You Can Be King Again
by Skairipa1337
Summary: After witnessing his parents' brutal slaughter on the first row, it changed him, once a bright youthful spirit turned more responsible and serious. Will he be able to silence the monsters inside his head, and be his own king again? Older brother Naruto, Naruto x Izumi / Female Itachi. [Dropped.]
1. Responsibility

_**Chapter 1.**_

**Summary: ****After witnessing his parents' brutal slaughter on the first row, it changed him, once a bright youthful spirit turned dull and serious, will he be able to silence the monsters inside his head, and be his own king again? Older brother Naruto, Naruto x Izumi / Female Itachi.**

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**Pairing: Naruto x Izumi (Female Itachi)**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

_**(Title is inspired by the song: 'King' by 'Lauren Aquilina' go check it out.)**_

_**Author's note: Please refrain from flaming in the review section, this is my first work please understand that. Suggestions and feedback is gladly welcomed however, just refrain from flaming more than giving feedback. Thanks. - Skairipa.**_

* * *

They panted loudly as they ran through alleyways, trying to remain free of the chaotic crowd running for their lives everywhere. They almost fell over a trash can as the roar from the giant beast shook the ground so hard it fell over onto the ground.

His vision looked up at the giant beast once again, before he looked down at the ground deep in thought. Soon they left the alleyway and was once again forced out onto the chaotic streets filled with people.

People were shouting from left and right as they ran, but his mind and heart wouldn't let him run any more. "Izumi-chan! My parents… They are still up there!" He yelled and put his foot into the ground to stop running and then turned around to look back.

The five-year-old girl, Izumi, in question turned around looking at him with a confused and shocked face as she cradled a small crying bundle in her arms. "Naruto! You aren't thinking about going up there, are you?" She asked with an uncertain tone.

"I have to! It's my family…" He said clenching his fists tightly as he gathered enough courage to turn around and run. And he did so. A matter of seconds later he turned a hundred and eighty degrees and gave into a sprint.

The young dark-haired girl tried to reach out to him and grab him before he did something that could kill him, but he was inches out of her grasp already so she was forced to look as he disappeared into the scared and horrified crowd running in her direction.

"Naruto-kun… Please don't die." She whispered to herself with a frown as the small bundle in the form of her little brother whimpered within her protective embrace.

"Don't worry Sasuke-chan, I am sure he will be alright and back to play with you soon…" She tried to smile to the best of her ability, despite the current situation.

The ground was shaking, the immense sound of tramping footsteps and a child's cry for their mother and father drowned any other sound except for the occasional roar coming from the huge beast in the distance.

Naruto pushed through the crowd, that was insisting on running against him, at the best speed the five-year-old's legs could carry him.

His own eyes were wide, the huge beast was mirrored in the dark blue orbs resembling the deepest ocean. Despite his mind's yells of protest for his legs to run in the opposite direction of the beast he kept going that way. The population of the village began to stare at the blond locks of the kid running in the direction of the beast, questioning his sanity.

His chest heaved up and down with his heavy breathing as he ran up a hill, the sight before him was nine swaying tails.

As he reached the top, an earth-shaking roar came from the creature in front of him, shaking the very ground beneath him to the point that he fell on his back as he was unable to stay on his feet.

'_Kaa-san! Tou-san!' _He grunted in his mind as he pushed himself back onto his feet, quickly sprinting through the forest after he regained the ability to stand.

When he exited the woods, his mind lost the capacity to think straight and his eyes remained wide open while his mouth gaped open. Right in front of him, chained to the ground by golden chains, the head of the huge monster was trapped. A lone red-slitted eye, that was bigger than his entire body alone, was wide open glaring in his direction as the creature snarled at him showing off its huge fangs.

He felt an arm wrap around his abdomen before the scenery in front of him changed, instead of staring at the glaring eyes of the beast, he was now staring at the chained down tails of it.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing here?! It's far too dangerous!" The exhausted and worried tone of his father came beside him.

Naruto's gaze snapped up to his father, the horrified expression unable to go away. "T-Tou-san? What is going on? Why is the nine-tails free, and where are Kaa-san and my Imouto?" Naruto's fear-filled stuttering voice asked.

Minato's blue eyes raced over his son's smaller frame, trying to find even the smallest hint of an injury.

"You Kaa-san and Imouto are safe for the moment, but everything else is not important right now. You need to listen to me very carefully, Naruto, because there are a lot of things that are about to change." Minato said, confusing his son.

Letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, Minato's thoughts raced. _'Instead of only sealing half of the fox in Akeno and the rest in me, I can seal one half in Naruto and Akeno respectively.'_

Naruto only stared at his father, still scared and in shock. He almost flinched when his father crouched down to wrap his arms around his smaller frame. "I am about to place a really heavy burden on you. I didn't want it to turn out like this, but for the sake of the future… it can't be avoided."

When Minato finished speaking he used the technique that made him feared once again, and Naruto's vision was now met with the scene of his mom panting heavily, she was looking worse for wear while she was kneeling beside a young infant crying on the ground.

"Kaa-san!" Naruto cried out as he ran up to her swinging his arms around her neck.

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing here? It's dangerous here…" She whispered, her sore throat hurting from the screaming she had done earlier because of the extraction of the beast.

Unable to answer, Naruto just clung to his mom soon the hug was joined by his father. "I need to start the sealing now, I know that you don't want to place such a heavy burden on them, but our children are tough, they can take it," Minato said with confidence.

"I know…" Kushina sighed as she released Naruto from the embrace.

"W-What's about to happen?" Naruto asked with a quiet tone, looking his into his mom's tired eyes as she tried her best to smile reassuringly.

"As you know, your Kaa-san protected the village from the nine-tails before by keeping it trapped within her tummy. It will now be your duty to take over, Naruto…" Minato said in a soft voice as he ruffled the younger blond's hair.

"Will it hurt?" Naruto gulped as he looked up at his father from the corner of his eye.

"I won't lie to you, it will feel like your skin is on fire, at first…" Minato frowned.

Wiping his eyes from the tears he hadn't felt he had shed, Naruto looked up at his father with the bravest and most determined expression he could muster, despite how scared he was inside.

"That's my boy..." Minato said with a bittersweet smile as he turned around and started to race through hand seals.

Naruto gave a quiet gasp as what appeared to be a small altar appeared around him, he was standing on a circular stone plate, with eight candles placed in a circle around him. "T-Tou-san!"

"It's alright, Naruto…" Minato sighed, it had to be now or never.

Going through even more hand seals, Minato clapped his hands together. **"Eight Sign Seal!" **Minato roared out as a red line of chakra emerged from the nine-tails, and flew right into Naruto's abdomen making the young boy grunt and groan at the burning sensation.

As the line of chakra disappeared, a seal was now evident on his stomach, "Tou-san… It hurts!" Naruto said dropping to his knees while wrapping his arms around his midsection trying to ease the pain somehow.

"I'm sorry for causing you such pain Naruto, but, I know that you are more than tough enough to take it; you are my son after all…" Minato said panting slightly, now looking over at the sleeping infant.

"Now for the second one…" Minato whispered to himself when he heard the sickening coughing from his wife, making him snap his attention toward her immediately.

"Kushina! Are you alright?" Minato yelled as he started to run over to her.

But after the first sealing, the nine-tails size had decreased greatly, making the chains go loose around it. It quickly used the opening as it roared to send its paw, claw first, towards the infant on the ground.

Naruto's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet only to fall on the ground with a loud yelp due to the pain and exhaustion caused by the recent sealing, of the half nine-tails, into his gut moments before. He laid on the ground, waiting for a cry or yell from either his baby sister or his parents.

But it never came.

His eyes opened slowly, only to be full of tears the next moment A claw from the nine-tails had been stopped mere inches away from his back, by the very bodies of his parents that stood with pained expressions as the claw penetrated their midsections.

"It seems like, stuff didn't turn out the way we wanted it, huh, Naruto-kun, Akeno-chan?" Kushina tried to say in a soothing voice, but the pain in her voice was far more evident.

Unable to say anything, Naruto stared up at the sad and pained faces of his parents, trying to mouth several words but failed to let them out.

"Naruto… Please lay your sister on the altar…" Minato coughed out, trying his best to stay strong in his last moments.

Naruto gave a shaky nod as he with trembling legs stood up and laid his sister down on a soft pillow lying on the stone plate where he had been standing moments before, trying his best not to fall on the ground again due to the exhaustion as he held the precious bundle in his arms.

"Now, please step aside, we don't have much time…" Minato groaned as he went through the same hand seals again, letting the red string of chakra connect to his newborn daughter, where she seconds later started to cry out from the sealing formula getting burned onto her skin.

As the sealing was finished, the baby girl was lying on the soft pillow whimpering, the uncomfortable pain on her skin, irritating her beyond anything else she has ever tried in her short life.

Dropping to the ground, Minato and Kushina kneeled panting heavily looking down at the holes going through their midsections, before smiling bitterly. "Naruto-chan, please come here…"

The young child slowly stepped over to his parents with shaky legs, he was now looking them in the eyes as they smiled despite the pain they were going through as if it was the last time they would see him ever again.

"There are tough times ahead, I want you to know that I'm so proud of you my son, you are the best boy a father and mother ever could hope for, your mother and I don't have a lot of time left, so I just want you to know, that despite that we aren't here much longer, that you aren't alone. There is Kakashi, Jiraiya, Hiruzen and Fugaku's family, they'll look after you…" Minato said in between heavy breaths.

"Naruto… Don't be picky, eat lots and grow strong. Make sure that you bathe every day and stay warm. Also, don't stay up late you need lots of sleep. And make friends! You don't need a lot of friends, just a few ones you can really, really trust. I wasn't very good at it, but keep up with your studies and practice your ninjutsu hard! Remember that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, so don't get too depressed if you can't do something well first try. Respect your teachers and upperclassmen at the Academy. " She paused to take a deep breath.

"Oh, and this is important! It's about the Three Prohibitions for a shinobi. Be extra careful about lending and borrowing money, put your mission wages into your savings account, no alcohol until you're twenty, too much can ruin your health, so drink in moderation, another Prohibition is women.. I'm a woman, so I don't know too much about this but… All you need to remember is that this world is made up of men and women, so it's only natural to take an interest in girls. But just don't get hooked on bad women.. Find someone just like me. Speaking of the Three Prohibitions, be wary of Jiraiya Sensei, you know.." Kushina paused again, feeling it become harder and harder to speak as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Naruto, from now on, you're going to face lots of pain and hardship, be true to yourself, have a dream and have the confidence to make that dream come true! There's so much... Oh, so much more that I want to pass on to you! I wish I could stay with you longer…" Kushina started to cry endless tears before her body started to go numb, while she slowly fell on the ground beneath her.

Minato tried his best to control his tears as he looked at his son and reached over to grab him by the back of his head before he pulled his son's head towards his so they could rest their foreheads against each other's. "Naruto, take care of your sister… You are the only one she has left, grow strong and protect her…"

Naruto sniffled loudly as he tried without luck to hold his tears in, "I will! I will become strong and protect her, I will… I will… I will protect her with my life!" He cried out crying without control.

"That's my son, but don't go die anytime soon, okay? Your Kaa-san and I will look forward to seeing you in the afterlife, but please, don't come to see us too soon... Live your life to the fullest, have no regrets and then come tell us your tale…" Minato breathed out.

"I have never been more proud of you, to experience so much in one night and still stand tall and brave, you truly are my son, not that I ever doubted it..." Minato grunted out with teary eyes, while his son still couldn't control his tears at all.

"One last thing, I don't ever hope it comes to it, but I have sealed a bit of your mother and I's chakra in your seals so that in case the seal ever is about to break, we will appear and help you out..." Minato coughed a bit of blood up much to Naruto's horror.

"Tou-san! Y-You can't die! None of you can! Please, don't leave me alone…" Naruto grabbed his father as hard as he could, feeling as if he didn't, he would disappear.

"I told you didn't I? You'll never be alone, you got so many people in your life that will make sure you are healthy and alright... " Minato tried to calm his son down as he dropped to his knees, bringing his arms around the small boy in the process.

As Naruto stood hugging his father, he felt the man's body getting heavier and heavier as Minato's breathing kept slowing down to the point where he wasn't even breathing anymore.

Feeling his arms getting tired Naruto watched as his father's body fell sideways to the ground with a thud. The man's eyes were closed, and he had a smile on his face so that he was appearing as if he had come to terms with the situation.

"Tou-san!" Naruto cried out, tears going down his face as he kept shaking his father's body. His endless tears kept streaming down his face, his breathing was anything but normal as he. with all the power his exhausted body could gather, continued shaking the large blond man's lifeless body.

Sniffling to himself as his arms went numb, he suddenly heard the cries of the young infant lying a few feet away from him. The scene of his father requesting that he would take care of his sister played before his eyes, and Naruto took a deep breath.

He wiped his tears away from his eyes, and stood up on shaky legs and just when he was about to take the first step toward his sister, his vision got blurry and his body fell forward with his face slamming into the ground.

And then everything went dark.

* * *

In a dark room, around a long oak table, the elders and clan heads of the village sat, with the former Hokage, the Third Hokage to be precise, at the end of the table.

"It is with deep sorrow and regret, that I now will announce that Minato Namikaze, our beloved Fourth Hokage, has passed away," Hiruzen said with a tired and sad tone.

Most of the people present had already assumed that this was what the summit was about, especially since Minato himself wasn't present. But the few who hadn't thought so far sat with shocked and saddened expressions.

"If I may ask, Sarutobi-sama… How did he pass away?" Tsume Inuzuka, the head of the Inuzuka clan asked with a sorrow-filled gaze, as she without moving just stared at the table in front of her like many others.

"When I arrived at the place he fought the nine-tailed fox, he wasn't dead yet... His wife, as some of you may know as Kushina Uzumaki, former Jinchuuriki of the fox, had set up a barrier around the place to prevent enemies from leaving or entering the area. Which in the end resulted in myself being unable to assist the pair since I was on the wrong side of said barrier…" Hiruzen took a break to let the information sink into people's heads.

"Hiruzen, what about the pair's children?" Danzo Shimura questioned from Hiruzen's right.

"I'm getting to that Danzo, no need to be impatient… Minato had, I assume, in order to keep the balance between the villages and the tailed-beasts, sealed from what I could gather at the place I was watching, one-half of the nine-tails into his son and heir, while he sealed the remaining half into his and Kushina's infant daughter." Hiruzen yet again took a break to let all the information sink in.

Shikaku Nara rose a brow at the mention of an infant daughter, "You speak of their infant daughter, yet I fail to remember any records on Kushina being pregnant again after Naruto was born."

People's heads turned to look at Hiruzen for answers, "It was not made common knowledge that Kushina was pregnant. As some of you may know, a female Jinchuuriki's seal weakens during the birth of her child. Since it almost went wrong when Naruto was born, more safety precautions were done this time around, however, something that we weren't expecting had happened."

"Safety precautions?" Shikaku again questioned with a raised brow, if so many safety precautions had been taken, why did the nine-tails break free?

"Despite how strong the barrier we put up was, and how strong the ANBU squad that protected them were, it wasn't enough to stop the enemy that infiltrated the chamber Kushina was giving birth within, just in time to release the nine-tails," Hiruzen explained.

"So, the seal didn't fail but somebody forced it out of her…" Inoichi Yamanaka concluded and narrowed his eyes with a clenched fist.

"Indeed there was someone that forced it out. From what a recon team could gather, an entire field has been blown up not long away from the birth chamber, and the Inuzuka tracker on the squad could smell Minato and an unidentified Shinobi's scent all over the place. Not to mention all the slaughtered ANBU operatives outside of the cave" Hiruzen elaborated, while Tsume nodded confirming it.

"To get someone as fast and intelligent as Minato off guard, one must be really strong and intelligent themselves. This enemy is not to be taken lightly, do we have any reason to believe he or she will strike again to try to regain the fox spirit?" Fugaku Uchiha spoke up finally.

"We believe the enemy is badly wounded, the field we assume Minato and the enemy battled, is destroyed beyond recognition, yet we didn't find any wound on Minato's corpse that had happened prior to the fox killing him. So with enough luck, we will be free of this unidentified threat for the time being." Danzo spoke up from beside Hiruzen.

"And if the enemy truly did retreat so Minato could join us in the battle, we have all reason to assume that either the enemy retreated or died. But we haven't found any corps, so the first possibility is probably the most likely one to be true." Tsume said.

"Now, back to what we discussed before we got sidetracked. Minato and Kushina, gave up their lives to save their children, both of them are fine, but they are still adjusting to the seals that have been placed on them, meaning that they are now resting together in a hospital room, with Kakashi Hatake, my own student Jiraiya and an entire squad consisting of the best ANBU we got guarding them." Hiruzen said, relieving quite a few people present.

"Why was Kushina's pregnancy kept a secret to us? We could all have gathered our elite clan members to help out at the cave…" Choza Akimichi said with a questioning tone.

"When Kushina was pregnant with Naruto, it hadn't been meant to go public as it did at all. But things happened and word spread. This time around we hoped to keep stuff simpler and quieter, which they were during the pregnancy period at least. But somehow this enemy found out that not only was Kushina pregnant but also where she was at the time she was giving birth." Hiruzen explained as simply as he could.

"The enemy must be really resourceful, not to say talented. To be able to match Minato in battle is no small feat. I doubt this will be the last we see off him, he didn't get his prize, I am almost sure he will return sometime after he recovers, I don't have an idea when, but I think we should prepare anyhow." Shikaku voiced his concerns.

"And we will be prepared, we now know that this kind of threat looms around the walls of the leaf, so we shall rise stronger than ever to make sure Minato and Kushina's sacrifice won't be in vain," Hiruzen said with determination as he picked up the red and white hat from the table and placed on top of his head.

"As the former Hokage, I shall retake the position to ensure the safety of the village and the people within it, until the era of a new Hokage comes forth." Hiruzen nodded out to the table, receiving a nod from everyone in return.

"Alright, this meeting has gone on long enough, I want all of you back out on your stations! We still have wounded shinobi, civilians, and even children, get them treated. Save or destroy buildings that are close to collapsing, we need to secure the streets so that people can roam the village again and get back to their life. There are several already collapsed buildings with people that are still alive buried beneath, get to them and then get them to safety and treatment. Dismissed!" Hiruzen's voice runged out through the room, and suddenly all the chairs went empty.

* * *

Hiruzen stood looking out over the Hokage monument, he had his pipe in one hand while he had his remaining hand behind his back.

"Hiruzen, I think there are matters that need to be discussed." A voice called from behind him, and Hiruzen turned his head to stare his former teammate, Danzo, in the eye.

"I already know what you are going to say Danzo, and no, you aren't going to take the siblings for training," Hiruzen said while putting his pipe up to his mouth.

"I beg you to reconsider, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! We have not only one, but two nine-tails that perhaps even could take on any other tailed-beast on their own. These children need to be raised and trained correctly, no village would dare to even raise their voice against the leaf if they knew what kind of power we possessed." Danzo tried again.

"You have been a shinobi long enough to understand that a shinobi's greatest weapon is surprise Danzo, why would you wave our Jinchuuriki around like a prize simply for everyone to see? They are still children, The Stone and Cloud will definitely try to come up with a plan to take them if they knew there were not one, but two of them." Hiruzen retorted.

"They need to be trained nonetheless, it's for the good of the village, why can't you see that?" Danzo said through gritted teeth.

"This _is_ for the good of the village, they are children, the next generation! And not only that, but they are going to be important members of the next generations, possibly even as future leaders. Robbing them of their emotions would only hinder them from interacting with their peers, and prevent them from being able to understand and lead those around them. Yes, I agree that they need training, but there are other avenues of training that don't require them to be in an ANBU squad devoid of emotions. Especially for Minato and Kushina's children. There are many shinobi that would be willing to train them if need be." Hiruzen said with a tone that meant his decision was made, and not changeable.

"Fine…" Danzo said with narrowed eyes as he turned around, and started walking away.

"But, there still might be something you can do," Hiruzen said, hoping not to regret this decision later.

Danzo, surprised, turned around to look at the back of Hiruzen before he walked up beside him to once again gaze out over their village. "And what would that be?" He asked.

"There is no doubt that your training regiments are very useful and as long as I have your word on that you don't turn them into mindless drones, then I might consider giving you a shot at training them or at least teaching them something useful." Hiruzen sighed.

Danzo smiled and realized that despite Hiruzen's nativity he was finally starting to see reason. "You will not regret this Hiruzen, I shall start with the boy as soon as he is ready since I assume that you want him to have some time to overcome this."

"You are correct to assume that, once I deem him fit and he too wants to start training, I will take you to him," Hiruzen said turning to look at Danzo.

"I will teach him to be strong then, no worries, the leaf shall soon have a shinobi strong enough to be at the level of his parents." Danzo nodded and turned around to leave, his mood improved greatly.

"But Danzo, break my trust once and you won't ever see the shadow of the boy again. When it starts I want monthly reports on his progress. I want to oversee his progress in person sometime as well." Hiruzen turned around after finishing.

"Very well then, no contradiction from my side." Danzo gave a last nod, and then finally left the scene leaving Hiruzen to think.

'_I hope I made the right choice here, Danzo could be a useful ally in the future. I just hope he doesn't break my trust. Again…'_

* * *

In a dimly lit stone room under the ground, a pale-skinned man with long smooth black hair sat drowning in boredom as he rested his chin on a clenched fist to support his head. He skimmed through several folders one of his henchmen had just brought him minutes ago, and soon started to notice several interesting individuals listed within them.

His eyes widened a bit as his lips quirked upward into a smirk, "Well, well, what do we have here?" He asked no-one in particular as he turned around in his chair to study the face of a young blond-haired child on a photo along with a file containing personal information.

"So it wasn't just all talk, the bastard actually died along with his loud-mouth wife." He sniggered as he threw the folder back onto the table and stood up before he walked over to a locked wooden cabinet in the corner.

With a steady hand, he stuck a key into the hole keyhole, turned it around and with an audible click the door was unlocked. "It seems there is a new Jinchuuriki too then…" He mused.

His pale hand grabbed a hold of the handle to open the cabinet, and with a loud creaking noise he gazed into the objects within. "How marvelous wouldn't it be… to control the body of a Jinchuuriki and all of its chakra, strength, and power... " The man smirked maliciously as his yellow eyes narrowed at a container half-filled with red liquid.

"And if we gave the body the one tool that can truly, according to history, control the beast… I would be unstoppable controlling it…" He whispered as he drew his finger along the glass of the container before drawing it back so he could lock the cabinet once again.

Turning around to go back to the table he had sit at before, he hummed with interest as the door to his personal chamber was knocked upon. "Enter." He said in a soft tone as he sad down and retook his previous sitting position with his face rested upon his clenched fist.

The door creaked open, and a man dressed in all white bowed his head down, "My apologies for the disturbance Orochimaru-sama, but I came to inform you of the failure of the last test-subject."

"Continue, quit bowing will you.": The pale man, now identified as Orochimaru, said as he waved his hand in a dismissing manner.

The man nodded and stood tall again, "We injected him with the required blood samples as you ordered Orochimaru-sama, but the test-subject died within forty seconds after the injections. Notable effects of the injections were the bleeding eyes, nosebleed, and seizure the test-subject had before the time of his death."

"It was to be expected, such a weak individual could never truly hope to adept to such powerful blood." Orochimaru chuckled as he turned to look at the file on the table, the folder still opened up with the file of a blond boy on top.

"Cancel all other scheduled experiments would you, we need to save the remains of the blood samples. We can't let any more go to waste." Orochimaru finally finished much to the present man's confused.

"If I may ask my lord, didn't you say this could be an experiment able to change the world as we know it today if it succeeded?" The man questioned, and he gulped when Orochimaru's yellow slitted eyes landed on his.

"Indeed I did, but as I said none of the still-living _volunteers_ could ever hope to actually live through the procedure. Your recent reports just verified my words, did it not?" Orochimaru asked with a smirk.

"Yes, of course, my lord, but what are we going to do then? None of the present test-subjects in the cells downstairs are in any better shape than the guy we just disposed of." The man asked with great interest.

Orochimaru's gaze wandered back to the picture of the file on the table.

"Oh don't worry, I have just the perfect soon to be test-subject in mind… Could you send word for Anko before you leave?" The man nodded and left out of the door he came.

* * *

**Well, done for now. What do you think about it? What is Orochimaru up to? What are the experiments that keep failing? Will Danzo break Hiruzen's trust again, or will the Warhawk for once actually gain his redemption? Let me hear your theories.**

**I know a lot of people hate Danzo because of how the show and several stories portray him, but you have to remember he actually just wants the best for the village, and I truly believe that despite how people portray him when he 'demands' to train Naruto in other stories, his actual problem with the usual rejection would be that the Jinchuuriki would be untrained, so I decided to change it up a little so he gets the chance to train him/them, maybe not the way he wanted to, but he still gets a chance to train the Jinchuuriki.**


	2. Crying Skies

_**Chapter 2.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Izumi (Female Itachi)**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

_**Author's note: Okay, to answer a guest review from last time that trash-talked Danzo saying he was a coward that was hiding in the Kyuubi attack, well, I don't really know what to tell you, but Danzo is just as qualified to teach him as anyone else, if he does keep himself within the terms of his and Hiruzen's agreement that is. And even then, who's to say there won't be anyone else there that can teach him also?**_

_**2nd author's note: I decided to change the name of Naruto's sister because it felt awkward to write and read when her name is basically a rip-off of Naruto's own. The new name is Akeno, look its meaning up on google I thought it was fitting.**_

* * *

The skies had been crying for about a month since the attack and up till this Friday morning, but the number of raindrops was nothing compared to the endless fountains of tears that the villagers had shed without stopping.

The village was still being rebuilt, and despite them working day and night in the past month, they were still sad to admit that they were far from done. A third of the village wall had been reduced to nothing but dust and rubble, and several rows of houses and apartment buildings, shopping districts, playgrounds, and parks had been destroyed under the beast's feet.

Even half of the graveyard and memorial plaza had been destroyed, hence why the reinstated Third Hokage had delayed the huge funeral that was planned to be held in honor of all the village's fallen; the heroes and protectors.

The sight outside his house was what made up his entertainment these days. He sat sideways with his knees hugged up to his chest, looking through an open window every single day since he had woken up in the hospital.

At first, he had hoped that it was all a bad dream, but the bandage going across his forehead made him realize otherwise. When he had fallen face-first on the ground, a sharp rock had cut his forehead open, hence why he was wearing the bandage, but what surprised was that when he took it off, despite how deep the wound was said to be, there was no sign of it ever being there.

He scoffed in irony, the thing that had destroyed his life was keeping him healthy and healed. Narrowing his eyes as he looked down at his front-yard, more specifically at the large red gate in the middle of the wall where about seven people stood laying their flowers in front of.

They pitied him, every single one of them pitied him to the point where he had to sprint his entire way home from the hospital to avoid their pitying looks. He hated that damn look, made him feel like he made out of glass. Not that their whispers helped either.

Everywhere he went all he heard was. _"How is he going to live without his parents?"_ and _"Poor boy, he isn't going to last a week alone at such a young age."_ he hated it all. All the looks, the whispers and the comments he had received all the way to his house. He was **_not_ **made out of glass and he _**wasn't **_a damsel in distress.

He scoffed again as he jumped down from the window, and onto the floor. He hadn't cried once in the last month, somehow he couldn't just let himself cry. He had promised his father that he would be strong for his sister, and wouldn't it be a huge sign of weakness if he just sat in a corner and cried his heart out every day?

Speaking of his sister, the blond boy made his way out into the hallway and tiptoed over to the door of his sister's room, and carefully pushed the door open as a silent creaking noise emitted from it.

His sister had been sleeping a lot, more than he had actually thought a baby would, but if he had to guess why he would say that the sealing of a being such as the fox would take a lot out of an infant.

Pulling the door back and closing it with an audible click, he just managed to take a step away from the door before he slammed his forehead against the wall. The click from the door had woken his sister up, letting his ears take in the loud wailing from the young girl.

* * *

"Man, is this rain ever going to stop?" The soft grumble from a raven-haired woman that seemed to be in her twenties or thirties, and was walking with a soft snoring infant in one arm, while she held an umbrella with her free hand.

"Probably not, Kaa-san." The voice of a small girl said beside her, her own eyes were filled concern as they passed a loud pile of flower bouquets in front of a red gate, of course, they both knew what this place was. They had been there countless of times already.

"Izumi, you said he hasn't come to the academy for a month right?" Her mom's soft voice asked, and she nodded without saying anything.

Mikoto frowned as she slowed down and turned to walk toward the gate, she gently placed a hand on the gate and frowned even more as a seal appeared over the lock.

"I guess there is no helping it, with Minato and Kushina's skill in sealing there is no way we are getting through here…" She sighed and walked back onto the streets.

Izumi, however, stood staring up at the large house behind the gates for some time though, _'Naruto-kun…' _she sighed to herself before she was pulled out of her thoughts when her mother called for her.

The young girl jogged up beside her mother again, but the woman's gaze kept lingering on her daughter's head. "You're worried about him, aren't you?" She asked with her motherly voice, and yet again, she nodded.

"It's terrifying, he saw it all happen with a first-row seat…" An elderly voice came beside them, coming out of a side-street the reinstated Hokage came wearing his Hokage robes while holding an umbrella over his head.

"Hokage-sama." Mikoto greeted with a short bow, while Izumi followed trying her to best to appear respectful to the old man.

"Please, Hiruzen is fine. I take it you went to Naruto's house?" He asked, taking his pipe out from within his robes and lighting it up with a small flame that appeared on his index finger.

"Yeah, we tried to enter through the gate, but the locking seal was activated." Mikoto sighed and rubbed Izumi's head as the young girl's mood seemed to drop at the mention of it.

"I see, well, in order to keep the heirs safe, Jiraiya made the locking mechanism automatic so that whenever the gate closes, it's locked," Hiruzen informed the mother and daughter duo.

"Who's going to take care of them? I am sure if you would allow it, I could talk to Fugaku about bringing them to the compound." Mikoto offered, but Hiruzen gave a sigh as he pulled the pipe away from his mouth.

"You know I can't do that, it would upset the balance of the clans… And besides, Naruto is being stubborn. Minato apparently entrusted him with both keeping her safe and taking care of her, so he is demanding that he be the guardian." Hiruzen said with a grunt.

"But he is five! With all due respect Hokage-sama, you can't possibly think that this is the best choice of action." Mikoto said in an almost outraged tone but kept it down to make sure Sasuke didn't wake up.

"Please, Kakashi Hatake, after his father's suicide took care of himself at this age too, and the entire estate they lived in. If Naruto is even half the young man Kakashi was at that age, he will be fine. And don't think he is alone, he is far from it. In fact, I, Kakashi, and even Jiraiya are making daily visits to make sure that he is healthy and keeping his sister safe and warm at night." Hiruzen informed, confident in the boy's abilities.

"That means you can unlock the gate. Could you please let us in so we can have a talk with Naruto? We would like him to know that if he needs anything in the slightest, he doesn't have to hesitate to ask at all." Mikoto asked with a hopeful tone.

"I'm afraid I can't do that if Naruto hasn't left the compound in an entire month as you state, I won't force him to interact with the population if he doesn't feel ready to do so." Hiruzen frowned.

"But we aren't just the population, he and Izumi are best friends! Hell, he even calls me Oba-chan." Mikoto tried again, but the reinstated Hokage shook his head.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way, but I will make sure he gets word of your offer," Hiruzen said walking past the pair and toward the loud gate while frowning at the pile of flowers.

Placing his palm on the lock the Uchiha watched with upset frowns as the metal gate opened with a loud whine before it was closed behind Hiruzen.

* * *

Hiruzen looked around the garden and frowned. He didn't want to upset the few people that actually cared about Naruto for who is, and not for his status and lineage, but Naruto was a human being too, if there was something that he didn't want to do, he couldn't bring himself to force him to, unless it was a future mission when he was, at long last, a shinobi.

The garden looked worse for wear, the grass had grown into a small jungle due to the lack of attention, and Kunai along with Shuriken laid on the ground rusting in the rain along with other training equipment.

Maybe Naruto wasn't like Kakashi at all, the boy had practically when he was this young, taken care of their entire property after his father's suicide.

Deciding that continuing to stay in the rain, any further, would be a pain, Hiruzen walked up to the front door and unlocked yet another lock seal on the doorknob and twisted it open to a heartwarming sight that made Hiruzen throw out any previous thoughts about Naruto not being anywhere near the same as Kakashi had been.

Naruto was standing in the kitchen, holding his sister against his chest as he fed her milk formula from a bottle while mumbling to himself, "I know this isn't as good as what Kaa-san would have been able to feed you, but I hope you know I am trying my best to fill in for her and Tou-san…"

"I am sure she knows Naruto, and I am even more sure she appreciates everything you do for her," Hiruzen spoke in his grandfatherly voice, making the blond raise his brows and turn around to look at the old man, not having realized he had entered the house.

"Oji-san, I didn't hear you come in," Naruto said in an almost apologetic voice.

"No worries, you seemed occupied." Hiruzen smiled as he closed his umbrella and put it against the wall, and hung his Hokage hat on a hanger in the small hallway.

"Would you like anything to drink? Or did the rain satisfy your thirst for water?" Naruto said, smiling a bit as Hiruzen chuckled warmly.

"It's nice to see you opening up again; you have only been a shell of your former self these days." Hiruzen frowned, and Naruto's smile fell as he looked down at his sister.

"I apologize." He sighed in return.

"No need for apologies, you need time and I understand that," Hiruzen said ruffling the boy's blond hair.

Realizing the blond didn't know how to answer, Hiruzen smiled. "But a cup of water would be appreciated, thank you."

Naruto nodded and stepped over to a cabinet and took out a cup and filled it with tap water. "Here you go. Sorry, I'm not too familiar with making tea yet."

"No worries, I can show you how if you'd like that?" Hiruzen said pulling a chair out to take a seat at the round oak dining table.

"That would be nice, thank you." Naruto nodded his head in thanks as he placed the young infant in a baby chair.

Hiruzen proceeded to stand up after taking a sip of water and showed Naruto how to prepare a good cup of tea, something that Naruto didn't know how to do yet, considering that his mom would always be the one to do so.

Upon finishing, they sat back down at the table where Hiruzen asked, "So, how have you been?"

"The same as yesterday," Naruto sighed as he let his sister play with his finger while he rested his head on his palm.

"Naruto…" Hiruzen sighed making Naruto look up at him with a frown.

"I'm fine, just as I was yesterday, nothing has changed at all." He finally responded.

"Yes, I hear that you still haven't attended the academy at all," Hiruzen said concerned.

"I will get around to it Oji-san, I just need some time…"

"Naruto, I hate trying to make you do stuff you don't want to, but I got to tell you this. The village is using precious resources on giving you a spot in the academy, and while I will not force you to go I feel I need to inform you that if you keep away, I may need to give your spot to another." Hiruzen said with regret.

"It's just that… wherever I go, I see their faces… I hear the villagers' words, I feel their stares… Oji-san I am tired of others making me feel like I'm made out of glass! When I ran home from the hospital an old lady laid her jacket down in a puddle of mud so I didn't have to step in it... as if I would break into a thousand pieces in case I fell…" Naruto said through gritted teeth, making his sister upset as she could feel his mood drop.

Hearing her soft whimpers, Naruto kissed her cheek making her giggle in delight, which in turn made the blond give a soft smile.

"So, you are staying away because you are sick of the treatment you are receiving?" Hiruzen asked, and his answer as a quiet nod from the blond.

"Then what about you taking distance from the people that care about you? I met Mikoto and Izumi outside of the gate, they said they hadn't seen or heard from you since it happened…They are worried, you know." Hiruzen said patting the blond's shoulder.

"I didn't mean to make them worry, but I have been busy," Naruto said motioning for his sister and the clean state of the house's interior.

"They said that they want you to know that if you need anything, you don't have to hesitate to ask," Hiruzen informed him, making Naruto nod.

Standing up from his chair, Hiruzen walked up to the sink and sat his empty cup down while looking out through the kitchen window, and out to the only training ground that seemed to still be taken care of, somewhat.

Proceeding to look in the direction of a wall filled with pictures, he smiled sadly as he looked over the countless family pictures hanging on said wall.

"You do know how much they loved you right?" Hiruzen asked with a warm smile.

"Yeah, they said it a lot…"

"I don't think you understand, they were thrilled when they knew you were in your mother's womb, your father was especially ecstatic about it. You know, before they were informed of your mother being pregnant they lived in a small house in the center of the village, but when your father found out your mother was pregnant he purchased this mansion and filled it to the brim with protection and alarm seals." Hiruzen said, shocking the blond.

"Your father knew he had many enemies, and thus when he realized that you would eventually be old enough to stay home for hours on your own, he purchased this place in order to make sure that in case an assassin tried to make their way here, they wouldn't get out alive." Hiruzen finished.

"I… I didn't know that…"

Hiruzen walked into the living room, with Naruto in tow after he had picked his sister up, "Your father loved you the most, despite how much your mother loved you, there was something inside Minato that changed when they had you. Whenever you weren't sleeping or being breastfed, he sat down in this very couch reading with you sleeping on his chest. Heh, sometimes Kushina had to force you out of his hold to get some time with you."

"I've heard about that…" Naruto chuckled slightly as the young girl cuddled in his embrace.

There was a moment of silence where Hiruzen looked out on that training ground again.

"Have you kept your training up?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yeah, I realized that if I had to make sure Akeno was safe I had to keep going despite the weather," Naruto responded.

"Good, I am sure wherever your parents are watching from, they are very proud of you," Hiruzen said rubbing the young blond's back in a soothing manner.

Silence overtook them again as they looked out the window, realizing that the train was stopping.

"Would there be any way that I could make your academy time, less troubling?" Hiruzen asked and Naruto snorted.

"Hn, unless you can make me able to get there without having to meet the annoying pitiful stares and whispers I doubt it." Naruto shrugged.

Hiruzen seemed to be deep in thought afterward, "Tell me, Naruto, what has your father been teaching you?"

"Well, we have mostly been doing physical training and chakra control stuff, why do you ask?" Naruto asked with curiosity.

"Because despite it being a bit too much to teach an ordinary five-year-old, I doubt you would that you would struggle with it. Considering you are anything but ordinary." Hiruzen chuckled as Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"It's a common technique to most Shinobi that are Chunin rank or above, called the **Body Flicker Technique**, its essentially a technique that allows you to move at such high speeds that it appears like teleportation to the naked eye," Hiruzen said as he put a hand up in a half ram seal and then disappeared from behind the couch, to in front of it, with only a gust of wind as evidence.

"The amount of chakra needed for this technique depends on the distance and height you want to travel, from here to the academy is pretty far so you will probably have to practice long-distance traveling this weekend so you can get it right," Hiruzen said as Naruto proceeded to stare at him with wide eyes.

"But, what about Akeno? I'd feel bad about leaving her inside alone if we go out to train…" Naruto said looking down at his younger sister who seemed to be dozing off again.

"Tell you what, I will make a clone to watch over her as she sleeps, does that satisfy your worries?" Hiruzen asked with a warm smile.

"What about your duties as Hokage? The village is still, you know, recovering and all." Naruto asked with concern.

"I don't have to be at my meeting with the construction workers to discuss the wall's repair for another few hours, plus, I'd rather be here than doing paperwork…" Hiruzen grumbled, making the blond chuckle at the old man's misfortune.

* * *

**Alright, I know my summary states that Naruto will be more numb and dull, but I don't want him to be a dick toward the people that helps him recover and take care of his precious sister. Think of him like, let's say, canon Itachi. He is brighter and more willing to communicate with people he likes and trusts, compared to the people that he doesn't know or trust.**

**Anyway let me know what you think, Orochimaru has yet to put his new master plan in motion, so you still got time to guess what he is up to. Let me hear ya theories!**

**-Skairipa.**


	3. Shisui Uchiha

_**Chapter 3.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Izumi (Female Itachi)**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

_**Author's note: I want to say that I'm eternally grateful for all the reviews you guys have been posting! And another thing I am so grateful for is that despite what I have heard is the usual case on this site, there have been zero flamings in the review section so far!**_

* * *

A loud thud was heard as his body landed in the mud for maybe the tenth time the past hour. He cursed as he pushed himself back onto his feet, and tried to wipe the worst of the mud sticking to his clothes off.

Much to the watching old man's amusement, the boy despite all his failed attempts made his way back onto the training ground to try again.

"Oji-san, you are a slave driver." Naruto groaned as he wiped some mud away from his forehead, and put his hands into a ram seal and closed his eyes to focus his chakra.

"But of course, how do you think the Sannin became as strong as they did?" Hiruzen asked amused, while Naruto just sighed.

"Touche…" The blond muttered before he vanished from sight again leaving a gust of wind filled with leaves in his wake.

Naruto flashed right back into existence only to meet a tree trunk with his forehead, "Fucking hell!" The blond cursed as he stumbled backward and fell onto his butt while rubbing his sore forehead.

"Language," Hiruzen said with a stern voice, making the blond send a glare his way, filled with annoyance.

"That hurt like hell," Naruto groaned as he dragged his feet back onto the training ground.

Hiruzen shook his head, "No pain, no gain." The old man replied as if it was that simple.

Naruto put his hands back into a ram seal when it hit him, "Hey, hold on! Why am I trying to body flicker out into the mud, instead of body flickering onto the training ground from out there?!"

Hiruzen chuckled loudly, "What would be the fun in that?"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched dangerously before the blond without thinking grabbed a handful of mud and threw it in the old man's face, putting out the old man's pipe, while mud fell from his forehead.

"So that's how we are playing." The old man said grabbing a fistful of mud himself and threw it at the blond who caught it with his face.

"On a real note though, the reason we are doing it this way is that it serves as motivation. You'll strive more to succeed in this technique because you don't want to keep failing and falling into the mud." Hiruzen said as Naruto growled and wiped the mud out of his face again.

"Fine…" Naruto muttered as he closed his eyes again, and vanished from sight yet again.

...

...

...

"Fucking hell! Oji-san!" The yell came again, and Hiruzen sighed.

This was going to be a long day…

* * *

The weekend had been a slow time for Naruto, he had been trying to do this technique the entire Friday afternoon, but he kept either face planting into the mud, or slamming his head into a tree.

Saturday had been a bit better, Hiruzen had come by again to get himself some time away from the dreadful paperwork. He watched the blond go through his training and Naruto after around an hour with practice he managed to land and regain his balance before he fell. He kept this up the rest of the day, trying his best to do it faster and faster.

When the sun was going down, he had managed to body flicker to different spots around his property, and to his satisfaction, he had managed to land on the water without going through the surface, and on several branches in the trees with differing height without slipping and falling.

Sunday had been a day to rest, Hiruzen had been quite impressed with Naruto's learning capability. He was just five years old and had managed to learn a Chunin level technique in less than twenty-four hours, and even managed to improve his speed and ability to land on different objects.

But today it's Monday and Naruto jumped out of bed around five in the morning. He had not been looking forward to this day, but he had promised Hiruzen that if he had learned to body flicker in the few days the students had off a week, he would go Monday morning.

He had pretty much been avoiding the outside world and social interaction, with the obvious exception of Hiruzen, Jiraiya and Kakashi that made quite frequent visits to his house to make sure he and his sister didn't go to sleep hungry.

Naruto walked downstairs in a tracksuit with three stripes on the sleeves, a simple back sleeveless shirt underneath, a pair of black pants, and sandals. To the adult generation, this outfit might seem familiar. That's because it is familiar, Naruto had found this outfit in a box inside his father's study, and decided to try it on.

Since there were still around three hours till he had to be at the academy, Naruto went outside into the cool morning air and started on his training. He first went through the physical training, which consisted of ten laps along the perimeter wall of his property, some punches and kicks to a training dummy, and a few sets of pushups and situps.

He had been breathing heavily when he finished, he had speeded things up this morning and thus managed to finish his overall workout routine after quick thirty minutes.

The next step was ninjutsu practice, and he realized something was wrong. He had managed to do the **Substitution Jutsu** and **Transformation Jutsu** with a bit of difficulty, but the couldn't do the **Clone Jutsu** at all anymore.

He after a few moments of wondering decided to ask Hiruzen later and went on with his practice of the **Body Flicker Technique**. His overall goal with practicing this particular technique was that he wanted to be able to make multiple leaps and jumps in a short amount of time if his focus and control of it went up.

An hour went by with this, and Naruto had been laying on some stone tiles that went all the way around the house when he heard his baby sister crying inside the house. Sitting up with a groan, Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead and used the body flicker with a minor smirk to land outside his sister's bedroom door.

* * *

Izumi hadn't been having a great month so far. She had gone with her mother almost every single day to buy groceries, wishing that one day they would walk past Naruto's house he would be outside, or the gate would be open.

But at last, it hadn't. Not once had she seen the blond, and not once had the gate been open. She was starting to worry a lot, of course, she had thought that something like this could end up happening when the blond boy had turned around to run after his parents instead of staying with her and Sasuke on their way to the shelters. But of course, she had hoped against it.

After she had bid her mother farewell upon arriving at the academy grounds, she had started to walk through the academy doors. She had been walking behind a long row of students toward their assigned classrooms, but it was as if her heart had skipped a beat when she noticed the mop of spiky blond blocks in front of a few people in front of her.

"Naruto?" She had asked loudly enough to catch the heir of the Yondaime Hokage's attention. She started to increase her walking pace as she pushed through the groups of academy students, much to their annoyance as she made her way up to the blond boy.

Naruto had been annoyed to say so at least when he had arrived at the academy, most of the students along with their parents had given him those looks, and whispered to each other like they did that day he had run home from the hospital.

He had been clad in the outfit he had found in his father's closet, he had opted for keeping it on instead of changing it. As he walked he could see the annoyance on some students' faces, he was still smelling from the sweat and mud from his training after all. But it wasn't like he cared, he could care less.

He had been walking with his head down along with his hands inside his pockets when something caught his attention. Someone was yelling his name. And not just anybody, but someone familiar.

He had stopped up, right in the path of some other students making them glare his way, but they were silenced when the blond fired his own their way.

As he turned around, the first thing he was met with was a pair of slender pale arms wrapping themselves around his neck in a tight embrace.

It took him a while to understand the situation, but his mouth finally moved, "Izumi-san?" He asked in a quiet tone but the girl just looked up with a minor glare but still kept her arms tightly around his neck.

"I thought you had stopped calling me that upon my request, you've started that habit again?" She asked annoyed, he had been calling her that the first few times they had met despite her obvious dislike to the suffix.

"Sorry, it slipped out… Izumi-chan" The blond body sighed, and the girl lessened the strength on the hug to the point she could pull back, and still look up at him.

"You reek, what have you been doing?" She asked curiously and looked him over to find a few muddy spots on his clothes.

"I worked out this morning, felt no point in stopping my training… despite…" He felt his throat struggling as he tried to finish his sentence, but the raven-haired girl noticed his obvious struggles.

"You don't have to finish the sentence, I understand." She said releasing his neck from her arms.

"I heard about your mother's offer, if you would be so kind, then please tell her that I appreciate the gesture. But I'm fine." Naruto said nodding his head, but the girl in front of him sighed.

"Part of being a family means that they will be there for you, whether you want it or not. She considers you a nephew, if not an all-but-blood son." Izumi informed him.

"Well, then extend my gratitude toward her, and please say I apologize for worrying you guys," Naruto said, looking down to his side.

"Since when did you start speaking with such formal words, I remember that not even a few months ago in class you glared at the teacher when she told you to speak with more dignity." Izumi giggled, which was quite a rare sight.

"Well, I don't know. I feel like I should treat people I respect and care about with a little more… well, respect. You don't know when they are gone after all." Naruto frowned at that.

"Yet you still come here without showering." She smirked at him.

The blond just sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Baby steps I guess."

"What about your sister? I heard that you take care of her, but what about when you are here at the academy? I hope for you that you haven't just left her alone at the compound." Izumi said with a skeptical gaze.

"Please, do you think so little of me? I have upon Oji-san's daughter's offer, Moriko-sama, take care of her in the meantime. I am to pick her up after school and additional training." Naruto said, slightly offended that she would think he would do that.

Izumi however just smirked and looked up at the clock before she grabbed his hand. This was indeed another quite rare sight. "Come on, if we don't pick up the pace we are going to be late for class."

The blond heir sighed, Izumi was still the same as ever.

* * *

The day had been pretty much as Naruto had predicted. He had entered the academy, met Izumi for the first time in around a month, and ignored almost everything and everybody present.

Of course, he had been polite enough to answer the teachers' questions, and much to their delight the blond had, despite his uninterested attitude, answered almost all questions with the correct answer.

So long story short, the day had gone slow. But he had endured, mostly because every time he had begun to feel down or any similar emotion, Izumi had pulled his focus away from those thoughts, and onto something else.

Naruto closed his book for what felt like the hundredth time this day. The teachers had finally dismissed them for the day, and he felt his mind exhausted beyond anything he had tried before. This was mostly because of all the stuff he had to endure, stuff like hearing how sorry everybody is and trying not to slam a book in their face afterward.

He stood up and packed his backpack in a hurry, and discreetly slipped away from the bunch of students in the middle of the room and toward a window at the back. Putting his fingers on the window, he pulled it up and applied chakra to his feet as he slipped out of it, and walked up the wall toward the roof.

But despite his attempts to disappear as discreetly as possible, he didn't manage to catch the sight of a mature woman's onyx eyes looking at him from the academy grounds. And her eyes followed him as he crawled over the railing on the roof.

Naruto landed with grace as he looked around him to make sure that the roof was empty. When he spotted no one, he sighed in relief. The day had been long, and the classes felt like they would never end. But now the day was over, and he didn't look forward to tomorrow at all.

"So, you're the guy Izumi was so worried about."

Naruto stiffened as he heard a voice from above him. He looked up to see a dark-haired boy that was a bit taller than himself. His appearance was quite simple, he wore black pants and a high-collared black shirt. But the few things that stood out were the tanto strapped to his back and the headband tied around his forehead.

"Who are you supposed to be?" The blond asked with narrowed eyes, but despite his hostile behavior the dark-haired boy just laughed and leaped down from the pole.

"Shisui Uchiha at your service, your majesty!" The boy now identified as Shisui said as he did a mock bow in front of the blond.

"Your majesty? What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked after a snort.

"Well, since everybody treats you like a porcelain figure, I figured that you had a high status. Oh, and I know who your parents were. Well, who doesn't? Anyway, jokes aside. I got no idea why she is so worried about a broody sandwich like you." Shisui said looking at him with a smirk as he studied the blond.

"Broody… sandwich?" Naruto asked with a throbbing tick mark on his forehead.

Shisui just shrugged and leaned against the railing. "Yeah! You are like a brooding sandwich! 'Look at me, I can act like a total ass because my parents died, please bow before my broodiness'." Shisui said with a mocking tone.

"What is your problem? I don't even know you, and you come here and insult me like the biggest jerk to ever set foot in this village." Naruto asked in a low tone along with a small glare.

"I am the one insulting you? Haha! You literally just called me the biggest jerk in the village right after! You are a bigger hypocrite than my dad was and that says a lot." Shisui chuckled as he rested his chin on his palm.

"Go bother someone else, I got places to be. Jerk." Naruto grunted and pushed past Shisui who still smirked like an idiot.

"Yeah, maybe the one I go to won't be the biggest crybaby in history. Look at you, acting high and mighty, you're just a wimp though! Well buhu! You are not the only one that has lost their parents, both of mine died too and I have been alone ever since. But you don't see me walking around while behaving like the world is out to get me." Shisui spat at the blond.

Naruto stopped up and grit his teeth along with clenching his fist.

"Grow up. If you don't you will just remain a disappointing wimp." Shisui said. But that was the final straw.

"Okay, that's it!" The blond yelled and threw a first at the dark-haired boy's laughing face.

But to his surprise, Shisui just dodged by going under it with ease and elbowed the blond in the gut causing him to double over.

"Why you…" Naruto grunted as he went low and swept at Shisui's feet, but again to his surprise his move was countered by Shisui flipped over Naruto while kicking him in the back in the process.

Falling to the ground Naruto slammed his fist into the concrete beneath him, and pulled out two kunai knives from within his jacket and threw at the grinning Shisui.

"Oh wow! These are dangerous, what would your parents say if they saw you, oh, my bad." The teen chuckled.

Around twenty minutes later Naruto was down on one knee panting loudly as he glared daggers at the teen who just stood and inspected his nails like this was no big deal at all.

"Feeling better?"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock at hearing this. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know. You looked so tense and filled with anger and frustration! So I thought it would be a good idea to provoke you, so you could let loose and relieve yourself of all that anger-filled tension!" Shisui said as if he had just succeeded in his genius master plan.

"So all that taunting were just to make me attack you?" Naruto grunted out, feeling confused,

"Oh, not all of it was! I still mean that you are a brooding sandwich." Shisui chuckled.

Naruto sighed and stood up again while rubbing his shoulder. "I suppose I needed that." The blond admitted after realizing he felt a little lighter on his heart.

"See? I knew it would work! Thank me later because the two of us need to get some work done." Shisui said, further confusing the blond boy.

"What are you talking about?"

Shisui looked him in the eye and did a nice guy pose. "Well, for an academy student you're stance and moves aren't bad at all! So I figured that if your book smarts are of the same caliber as your fighting capabilities. The academy is probably really damn boring, am I right?"

Naruto blinked at that. "Yeah, so what? Naruto sighed while sitting down on the ground to rest.

Shisui crouched down and whispered, "I have a trick so you can avoid your boring lectures, but still be present."

Now this made no sense at all, how could he be there but not be there at the same time?

"Now, now! I know that face. You don't understand what I'm saying, but no worries! The awesome Shisui will teach it to you." The dark-haired Uchiha grinned sheepishly.

Naruto looked Shisui over a few times. The boy had just handed his ass to him, insulted and taunted him. But now he wanted to teach him some useful techniques to avoid his boredom?

"Why do you want to help me?" Naruto finally asked after about a minute of silence.

Shisui adopted a thinking pose. "Well, let's just say its an apology for kicking your butt six ways to Sunday!" Shisui winked and gave a thumbs up.

Naruto still just stared at the older boy. "What is it?"

Shisui leaped back to his feet, "That's what I'm going to show you! Come on broody booty, we can't let people here see the trick or else we might get in trouble." Shisui said after swinging the blond up from the ground and over his shoulder.

"I can walk fine on my own, put me down!" Naruto growled in embarrassment.

"Yeah but that would take too long!" Shisui laughed as he leaped from the roof and away.

"You're still a jerk though…" Naruto grunted out.

On the ground, the woman was still watching, but her face adopted a smile as she let a few chuckles escape her plump lips. "Thanks, Shisui-kun." She mumbled to herself while watching her daughter come out of the academy.

* * *

**I know this was a bit delayed, but I have a lot of things in my life right now that I have to deal with. But, I thought I owed you guys a chapter, so here is a slightly short one, but it had all the elements I wanted it to have. **

**So, Shisui has made his appearance in the story. Shisui is one of my favorite characters, and how I displayed him just feels to me like something he would do.**

**Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter.**


	4. Patience

_**Chapter 4.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Izumi (Female Itachi)**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

_**Author's note: A lot thought I was bashing Shisui last chapter, no I wasn't, he is my favorite character. His actions had more than one meaning. It might have been displayed as douchy moves, but part of the explanation for them was also there. Naruto had bottled anger up and became tense, and the only way to make him let go was by "poking the bear". Another reason I have yet to explain is that Naruto has to learn that he can't go on a rampage filled with blind anger every time his parents are mentioned in some way. **_

* * *

Naruto grunted as Shisui pretty much threw him on the ground after landing in a forest. Well, one of the forests. They lived in a place surrounded and filled with trees after all.

Shisui smiled and rested his hands on his waist. He seemed to take in the forest before he took a deep breath in through his nose and then released it from his mouth along with a content sigh.

"There is nothing like the fresh air in the middle of a forest, you can smell all the scents of nature! The flowers, the animals, the trees and sometimes the rivers." Shisui said in a low tone while closing his eyes.

"Yeah, you think nature is awesome. So what?" Naruto asked as he got back on his feet.

"It's a really important skill to possess. To recognize the feel and smell of the nature around you I mean. How do you think experienced trackers and shinobi realize something is wrong with the area around them so they can avoid traps and ambushes?" Shisui asked with interest.

"You are the one wearing a headband here, and I'm still a first-year in the academy," Naruto said crossing his arms, he did have a theory, but this guy had said _he_ wanted to teach _him_ some stuff. Not the other way around.

"I guess that's right, broody booty. Well, a key thing to spot is the smell of smoke or fire, but since that can also be a simple forest fire try and see if you can smell cooked food in the area the smoke comes from." Shisui said holding up one finger.

He lifted a second finger a second after, "Another key thing is to spot stuff that is out of place, let's say a snapped stick or perhaps footprints in the mosh? Maybe even a campfire that has recently put out?"

Naruto nodded at that, this was some of the stuff he had read about. "So, smell and sight is important, what about sounds?"

"Finally caught your interest, eh? Well, of course, the sounds of branches snapping is a quite simple one to spot, but most experienced shinobi know how to avoid that. Other than that, fabric sounds. If you are completely still and silent you will sometimes hear the fabric sounds of clothing when an enemy moves a single muscle or draws a weapon." Shisui said holding a third finger up.

"So, I guess the sound of metal from a kunai being drawn is also in this category?" Naruto asked and Shisui nodded before putting his hand into a thumbs up instead.

"Exactly! As I suspected, your book smarts are obviously at the same level as your fighting capabilities." Shisui said smirking while resting a hand on his opposite hip.

"Well, what about this technique you wanted to show me?" Naruto asked, the curiosity getting the better of him.

"Nope, not yet! We are going through our first lecture at the moment, so we have to finish it before we move along with the next one. Alright! So what I want you to do, is close your eyes and let your other senses take over! Tell me what you hear, what you smell, and then when you open your eyes I want you to spot stuff in this clearing that is out of place." Shisui said smirking at him.

"Okay…" Naruto sighed out and closed his eyes.

It took him a while to get his patience to work with him. But when it did, he became able to feel and smell the area around him without looking at it through his eyes. He could hear the winds and feel them coming from his right side. He could smell the water from a river, he could hear from his left.

Letting his feet wander around a bit, he could also feel the grass tickling his toes. The slight damp feeling of the still-wet grass from the previous month of rain annoyed him a bit but felt pleasant at the same time.

"I can feel the winds coming from my right, and also damp grass. I can smell the river and hear it to my left. And I can feel along with smell the flowers beneath us." Naruto said in a shortened version, but it was enough for Shisui to notice that he had pretty good observation skills.

"Correct again, alright! Now, I want you to empty your mind and take in all your surroundings through your eyes! What is out of place here?" Shisui said with a mischieve smirk.

As a gust of wind hit Naruto so his hair swayed in the wind, he opened his eyes. He did as he was told, and emptied his mind of empty thoughts and simply let his vision guide him through this task. His eyes roamed all over the place, he watched everything over and over again while trying to spot the most minor thing that was out of place in the clearing and forest around it.

He stood still for about five minutes before he turned to Shisui and said the first thing. "Well, under that tree lays a branch that looks like it has fallen off a tree. But none of the trees around it has any signs of missing a branch." Shisui nodded at that and motioned for him to continue.

Naruto then walked over to the tree branch and then kicked it away. "The grass beneath it also suggests that it hasn't laid there for very long either. It was most likely placed here."

"Bravo! To think you would notice the hardest thing first is beyond me, but what about the smaller and more obvious things?" Shisui asked, and looked around him.

"Well, that tree has three small cut marks that probably belong to a knife or sword, they are too slim to come from claws. Then there is that branch over there, it has obvious scorch marks on the underside." Naruto said pointing at the things.

"Excellent! Anything else?" Shisui said, trying to push to blond to find the last few things.

Naruto looked around for a minute, "Uhm, the grass beside that large tree looks like something heavy were placed upon it before it was removed. If I were to guess, I would say it was most likely a rock, judging from the shape and size, that is."

"You are good at this! But you failed to see the footprints on the moss upon those tree branches." Shisui said pointing upwards.

"Aren't they yours from when you brought me here?" Naruto asked and Shisui shook his head.

"The footprints are pointed in the opposite direction, which means they are facing toward the academy and not toward this clearing, but hey! You figured all except one out, that's quite good compared to what I had expected." Shisui explained followed by praise.

The realization hit Naruto after that, causing his eyes to go wide, "I see, I guess there is still much to learn for me."

"But of course, you are still in the academy after all. But no worries, I am here to help!" Shisui said winking while pointing a thumb at himself.

"Why?" Naruto asked while narrowing his eyes.

Shisui blinked at that, "Hm? Why what?" He asked afterward.

"Why are you helping me? You don't even know _me, _only _who_ I am." Naruto asked with skepticism.

"Well, Izumi vouches for you! That's enough for me to know you must be a decent guy! And you looked like you struggled with stuff, and as a fellow citizen of the leaf, I felt the need to help a brother out." Shisui explained as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Naruto blinked a few times without saying anything. Shisui was perhaps the most selfless guy he had _ever_ met or heard about in his short life.

"Thanks, I suppose," Naruto said looking down, feeling a bit bad about having acted like an ass earlier.

"Aw! Look at the two of us bonding, meh, enough of all this feely stuff! Let's get to work." Shisui smiled.

"So, what move were you going to teach me?" Naruto asked with curiosity.

"Uh, uh! _Moves_." Shisui smirked.

"You are going to teach me more than one thing?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Yup! First, I am going to teach you how to escape those, boooring lessons at the academy! And then! Afterward, I will teach you something to compliment your fighting capabilities." Shisui explained.

Naruto frowned at that, "Why are you going so much out of your way for me?" He asked.

Shisui just shrugged again, "You make things interesting, plus, if you get really strong some time in the future, I get to take a shit ton of credit!" Shisui grinned sheepishly.

"Well… Okay then. What is the first thing on the menu?" Naruto then asked hesitantly, ready to learn.

Shisui gave his signature smirk, by now, and then crossed his fingers and pushed some chakra through his chakra points. Naruto raised a brow when a cloud of smoke appeared beside Shisui and then gaped when a solid replica of him stood there as the smoke cleared.

"This technique is called the **Shadow Clone Jutsu**, it allows the user to create a solid replica out of your chakra, that has more than a few uses! For one, they can be used decoys in combat, so you can either think of an attack plan or an escape plan. Another use for the clones, which will be the one that will benefit you the most. Is the intelligence gathering ability. The shadow clones upon dispersing, will send their remaining chakra and gathered intelligence back to the user." Shisui explained.

"This means that if I send a clone to the academy, I will get all the information it has gathered during classes while I'm at home as soon as it disperses…" Naruto realized, and then smirked.

"Bingo! We have a winner! Just remember they can't take a ton of damage, a hard enough punch or kick is enough to take them out." Shisui laughed and then dispersed his clone by punching it in the face.

Naruto sweatdropped at that, "Gotcha…"

* * *

About an hour after Naruto had gotten the technique explained by Shisui, the blond now stood with a perfect replica of himself. The technique itself wasn't hard to do at all, but using it correctly was a different matter.

He had to find out the exact amount of chakra needed for one clone because at first, he kept making three at the time instead of just a single one. He was still long from mastering the move yet, he still had to figure out his maximum limit of clones, but also the absolute minimum amount of chakra needed to create a single functioning clone.

"Awesome! So, now that you have managed to do the technique, and narrowed the chakra usage down to making one at a time, you can finally skip academy hours! But, you got to be aware of something. The more information it gathers, especially if you have more than one clone out at the time. You can get some serious headaches or even brain damage, so when you dispel them do it in bunches instead of all of them at the time." Shisui explained, with a rare serious tone.

"Got it." Naruto sighed and dispersed his clone.

"Alright, so the next thing I want to teach is more like an eye-opener," Shisui said and sat down while crossing his legs.

"Eye-opener? About what?" Naruto asked as he sat down against a tree to rest.

"Look, on the rooftop earlier. I didn't just have one goal in mind with the whole taunting thing, well, I did want you to relieve some of all that buildup tension in your system. But also, I wanted to figure out how much the subject of your parents affects you." Shisui explained.

"My parents got killed, yeah it affects me?" Naruto said crossing his arms.

Shisui coughed and then said, "That's the problem, you let it affect you too _much_. You can't just go into a blind anger-filled rampage every single time your parents are brought up. I am not trying to be a jerk, I really don't. But the world outside the world is tough, people will know you are, and they won't sugarcoat things. They will use any tool to take you down, be it a low blow below the belt place or not."

The blond gritted his teeth, but he knew the older teen was right. "What do you suggest I do then? I can't help but feel weak and useless, they died right there and I could do _nothing_!"

"You are _five_, you are still a kid for kami's sake. You are as green as an academy student can get, you might be talented but you are still a kid. No one expects you to have been able to do anything." Shisui answered.

Naruto looked down at that, "Doesn't change the fact that I wanted to…."

Shisui sighed and walked up beside Naruto and sat down, where he proceeded to place a comforting hand on the blond's shoulder. "There is no changing the past. But, we can secure the future. We can train you to be able to stop anything and anyone from harming what and who you love, but also train your mind so you won't snap when people mention what you've lost."

Naruto looked a bit surprised at the sudden show of affection. "And how do we do that?"

"That's simple, but still easier said than done. We need to teach you patience, and how to calm down and don't let your anger blind you." Shisui answered before leaping back to his feet.

"How can you calm yourself down like that?" Naruto asked afterward.

"Well, it requires determination, willpower, and the strength to never give up. Just as the saying goes, patience is a virtue. So, we need you to 'slow down' and take a deep breath when things get hard. A really good tip is meditation, but that is an easy method. There is, of course, several strategies on how to improve your patience. But the first and best start is through long period meditation." Shisui tried to explain to the best of his abilities.

"So, when I feel that things get tough I have to meditate? But, that doesn't help if I am in a battle and they do some low blows." Naruto noted.

"Wow, easy tiger. We need to go through this with baby steps! There is no way you can handle your emotions _in _combat if you can't handle them and calm down _out _of combat." Shisui said waving his hands around in a dismissive manner.

"Okay, so let's say I meditate for a long period of time to calm myself, what would be the next step?" Naruto asked.

"You getting it all wrong pal, listen. Meditation is at first boring for most people, but you will need a lot of willpower to sit through it, and even more, willpower to keep going." Shisui tried again.

"So it's all a question about willpower?" Naruto concluded.

"Exactly! Or, well, most of it is. It requires willpower to go through something boring, and through stuff that bothers you. It's just as if you had to ignore an enemy's taunting and verbal abuse! You _need_ the willpower to endure the taunting, and to not let your anger consume you." Shisui finished.

"Then let's get started." Naruto sighed at last.

* * *

In another part of the village, an old man wearing his white Hokage robes walked along a dirt path towards his house. Pulling a wooden pipe away from his mouth, he looked up at the mansion his family resides in as the shadows from the large oak trees around it, danced across the roof and walls.

His long robes swayed in the wind as he let out an audible sigh, and turned the doorknob at the front door around and opened it while creaking ever so loudly. The creaking was however quickly outdone by the loud crying coming from the child in the next room.

'_I guess Naruto-kun haven't had time to pick her up yet." _The old Hokage sighed and turned the corner into the living room. He smiled as he watched his oldest child, his beautiful daughter as she cuddled the infant to her chest while whispering soothing words.

"I take it young Naruto haven't been around yet?" Hiruzen asked, and his daughter turned to smile at her father.

"I'm afraid not, I wonder what's holding him." She answered with a frown.

"He is busy learning new things, he is probably still out training with Uchiha Shisui," Hiruzen answered, and sat down on the couch with an audible grunt.

"The young Uchiha prodigy? I wonder how those two met." She giggled, having heard about Shisui a few times.

"Oh, that's simple. Shisui made Naruto pick a fight without him, and then defeated Naruto without trouble, but with relative ease." Hiruzen chuckled.

Moriko raised a brow, "Sorry for asking, but why did you let that happen?"

"I went to the academy to check up on him, but as I watched from afar it all happened before my eyes. I was about to step in when Shisui voiced his reason for doing what he did. He said it was so Naruto could let go of all that he was building up inside him." Hiruzen answered with a small smile.

Moriko smiled as well, "I see, so Shisui just looked after his wellbeing?"

"I assume so, they took off minutes later, saying something about teaching a trick to Naruto," Hiruzen explained.

Moriko then sat down beside her father, still holding onto the infant girl while she started to fall asleep in the warm embrace.

The daughter of the third then frowned and looked down at the sleeping girl, "I hope that Shisui can bring out that bright in him again if anyone can… it should be Shisui, judging by his reputation that is."

"I hate to say it, but he will never be the same…" Hiruzen frowned at this, the very though saddening him.

Moriko looked quite outraged after that, "How can you have so little faith in him? He looks at you as if you were his real grandfather, and you as if he was your grandson by blood."

"Don't lecture me with having faith in him, I believe that he can do pretty much anything he sets his mind to," Hiruzen answered with a serious tone.

"Then… why do you sound so upgiving on him getting back to his usual self?" She then questioned the old Hokage.

"Naruto is being forced to grow up now, with all that happening as well as the nightmares of what happened that night… I believe it to be impossible for him to ever return to his usual self…" Hiruzen admitted sadly.

"Well, I won't lose hope! Naruto was destined to be a sun that will light up the darkness within people." Moriko said with a determined look on her face.

"Perhaps he can get some of his flames back, but he will need help," Hiruzen said smiling at his optimistic daughter.

Moriko then caressed Akeno's hair lovingly. "That's what family is for, right?"

* * *

The time picked up, and months seemed to fly by after that.

The trick had been useful. Naruto had through the last three months sent his clone to the academy, and as Shisui had said. It had worked wonders. He had in the meantime trained and taken care of his sister, who was by now looking more and more like her mother with each day that goes.

She was a beautiful baby, her crimson locks were growing and her attitude resembled the typical Uzumaki already. She was loud, demanded attention, and would go with any means necessary to show when she was annoyed or craved something.

About a month ago, it had been his birthday. But he didn't do anything on this day. Despite Izumi and also Mikoto's pleading for him to celebrate it as a kid his age should. He had refused and stated it wasn't worth it. They, of course, understood _why_ he didn't want to celebrate this day, especially without his parents, but still tried their best to convince him.

In the end, he had spent the day in his compound taking care of his sister, and training. But this didn't stop Hiruzen and Kakashi stopping by in the evening with two neatly wrapped up gifts for him.

Hiruzen had gotten him, after learning Shisui was beginning to teach him a few things, gifted him a ready to use shinobi set. This 'set' contained shuriken, kunai and exploding tags along with some rolls of ninja wire and senbon needles.

Kakashi had said that since he could feel the blond was about to enter the shinobi ranks, gifted him a face mask. Naruto had raised his eyes at that, why would this gift help him in his journey as a shinobi? And Kakashi with simple words had explained that it would council his identity _for now_, and with the help of a seal, he would be able to breathe easier in clouds of smoke and poison.

Naruto had politely thanked them for the gifts, and the evening had gone by without too much else happening.

But, when he had returned to the academy he had received another gift from Izumi and her mother, which almost made him cry after her words. This gift mean much to him, it made him feel like opening up to let people in again.

* * *

_Another day had ended at the academy, the sun was now shining brightly in the middle of the sky, with little to no clouds. The sound of books getting shut left and right hit the blond's ears as he sat and enjoyed the sunrays warming his face through the window._

_This day he had come to the academy in person. That was mostly because he had learned that today would be filled with taijutsu spars, and as Shisui had shown him, Shadow Clones didn't last long through those. _

_When he had broken his line of thoughts, he noticed everyone packing their stuff down. Deciding that it was useless to stay any longer, he did what he always did. He stood up and pulled the window open, and leaped up to the roof._

_Just as he was about to do the Body Flicker to return home, he heard a cough behind him. He pulled his hands apart and broke the hand sign as he turned around, and looked his best friend right in the eye._

"_So, you didn't send a clone today, huh?" She asked with a minor smirk on her face._

"_You knew about that?" He asked a tad surprised._

_She just shrugged and did the cross seal, "Well, my father taught it to me the other day, despite my mother's request against it." She answered as a clone appeared beside her._

_Naruto looked impressed, he, of course, knew Izumi was smart and insanely talented for her age. But she never ceases to amaze him. No matter how much he feels he progress, she is always there right beside him. _

"_So, I take it you also use it to avoid your boredom?" Naruto asked, with curiosity._

"_I don't find the topics they teach in class interesting anymore, no, but I still come in person every time we have anything psychical on the schedule." She answered as she stepped up to him._

"_Yeah, I do the same thing. I don't want to get expelled because I cheat my way through the academy. If I did end up expelled, Oji-san would probably be very disappointed with me." Naruto sighed while leaning against the railing._

"_Then let's don't get caught." She said with a smile gracing her lips._

_The blond snorted, "As if I planned on getting caught."_

_Izumi chose to let out a giggle at that. She wasn't doubting that one bit._

"_I suppose not." She said with a smile._

_Naruto frowned afterward, "I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but was there something you wanted? We normally don't meetup here and like this, hence why I'm asking…" Naruto said scratching his arm._

_Izumi's eyes widened in realization, "Oh.. yeah. I wanted to give you something…"_

_She then proceeded to lay her back on the ground in a gentle manner, and then pulled the zipper to open it. Naruto looked on as she pulled on a neatly wrapped up box, and lifted it toward him._

"_My mother and I, had this forged for you. We know that times are tough right now for you, and a lot is on your mind. The responsibilities you have in your life now, are really important. But we want you to know that you're never alone and we will always have your back. Because… that's what family is for!" She finished with a small smile._

_Naruto's eyes widened at that. The word family hit the sorest spots within him. But when they were used like this, he couldn't help but feel his eyes tearing up before he pulled himself together, and gently took the package out of her hands._

_Upon opening the box, in awaited a necklace. To be more specific, a gilded silver chain made its way from the top of the box, all the way to the bottom, where it connected itself to a small… ring-like object. Carbon-black made up the ring, but three, silver, tomoe shone through as they made up most of the center, in all their metallic glory. _

_Slowly. Hesitantly, he raised a hand towards the necklace, only to be left in awe, as a short thrum of chakra shot through him. He looked at Izumi, who just nodded for him while telling him to put it on._

_And that he did. He lifted the beautiful necklace over his head, and let the ring with the three tomoes rest on the middle of his chest. "Izumi… I…" He sighed looking down at the ground._

"_The necklace has a detection seal on it, which we requested Hokage-sama to make it for us. It will alert us if your chakra is ever near complete exhaustion. If it ever happens, we will come for you." Izumi explained, looking him in the eyes._

_She gave a quiet gasp when she felt two arms wrap around her with obvious young blond boy rested his head in the crook of her neck. "Thank you…" He muttered while feeling the warmth coming from her._

_Maybe it would be okay for him to let people in again…_

* * *

His face adopted a minor smile as he held the necklace on his palm. His thoughts fell on Izumi, his best friend. She had supported him a ton, despite her problems at home. Her father was a slave-driver and set upon making her the strongest in the Uchiha clan before she even became Jounin.

Naruto felt like the man was a bit insane, and messed up in his head. She was six. This might be a dangerous world, but it was still a time of peace at the moment. Why the man wouldn't let her enjoy her childhood, was beyond him. Perhaps Fugaku just had the usual Uchiha complex, where he thought of him as above everyone else. Who knows? He was just glad that Izumi had gotten most of her mother's traits. She was humble, polite and nice. Not grumpy like Fugaku.

Unfortunately, she like him was pushed to mature quite fast. He felt like he was forced to so he could take care of his sister, but in Izumi's case, her father was just messed up. Not that he dared to say that in the man's presence, but he still felt that the man could get some sense knocked into him.

* * *

**This was the fourth chapter, to any wondering; Yeah I will soon try to put an end to this childhood arc so we can get to the actual storyline, but I feel like it is somewhat important to set the world up so you can see what is going on until the point where it's not necessary to put more useless fill on it.**

**And real quick, please be aware of that Shisui is TEN, he teaching methods isn't perfect yet. Hence why I have displayed them as they are, wouldn't want to make him a Gary Sue, now would we?**

**A second thought I've had is that I hope I'm not making Izumi too much out of character compared to canon Itachi. But Itachi was shown to show care and love for people close to him, so despite Izumi's behavior and attitude at the moment I still haven't made a scene yet where she interacts with other people besides Naruto, whom she is very close with. **


	5. The Youngest Graduates

_**Chapter 5.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Izumi (Female Itachi)**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

_**Author's note: Well, someone still has trouble with the whole Shisui situation. I have a guest review saying that he's allowed acting this way, and sure he is. My point is more that he can't just throw a fight with everyone, and learning how to control his anger is the best solution I could come up with.**_

_**By the way, should I add titles so its easier to through the posted chapters? So that in case someone closes the tab they are reading on, it will be easier to find where they were.**_

* * *

The sound of the birds chirping mixed up with the wind rustling the leaves from the trees. The wind went low, and through his golden locks so they swayed all around his still sitting form.

It had been around another month since his last training session with Shisui, or whatever this was called. The last time had been about a week after he had gone to Izumi's house to get her for a one on one spar. But as he had suspected, her father was busy training her once again.

He took a deep breath and listened as a bird took off. He had been sitting here for a quite a while, and if he had to be honest… it was nice and relaxing. To be quite honest, he had no idea how long he had been sitting there.

"Okay! This isn't working." The frustrated groan came from one of his recently acquired friends. Naruto opened his bright blue eyes and looked down from the branch he was sitting on, and let them fall onto Shisui who was busy pulling his hair out in frustration.

"Is it not? I find this quite relaxing, you should try it." Naruto said, the ghost of a smirk crawling onto his lips.

"Yeah, you are doing it fine if you want to _relax_. But, our goal was to train your willpower! We aren't training anything if you enjoy to do it. It's not like you need the willpower to say yes to a piece of cake compared to saying no to one." Shisui grunted.

"Touche." The blond shrugged and pushed himself off the branch, and landed on the soft grass floor beneath him.

'"Okay! There might be another solution." Shisui said, an imaginary lightbulb appearing over his head.

"You going to make me drag boulders up a cliff or something instead?" Naruto asked with sarcasm.

Shisui blinked, "That's not a bad idea."

"You wouldn't…" Naruto glared at him.

"Well, not now at least. Come on! We have another solution, but it is still linked with meditation. Meditation is still important, but we still need to strengthen that willpower of yours unless you want to try and bite everyone's butt off when they piss you off." Shisui chuckled.

"Just get to it already…" Naruto said rubbing his forehead.

"Chill broody booty, or do you need a minute to meditate again?" Shisui teased with a grin.

"If you aren't getting to it, I'm leaving. I got a sister to take care of, and I'm not happy with leaving her with Moriko-sama if I could be there myself." Naruto said with narrowed eyes.

It was true that Naruto considered Shisui a _friend_. But, the older teen could without a doubt get on his nerves. Shisui was a bright persona, without a doubt. But sometimes, it was so inviting to punch his face.

"Hey! No need to be rude again, I thought we were past that! Anyway, real quick, what chakra control exercises do you know?" Shisui asked.

"The basic stuff, leaf balancing, tree walking and water walking," Naruto answered with a raised brow.

"Alright! Okay, what I'll teach you now is a chakra control exercise that most Chunin can't do. But no worries, if you are anything like the prodigy Izumi describes you as, there isn't a doubt in my mind that you can do it. Well, a little, but I'm still sure you can do it!" Shisui said with a shrug.

"What is it?" Naruto sighed.

Shisui walked over and grabbed a severed tree log, and grunted, "Well, if I can't teach you this, then we can always go with your idea. I'm sure we can find a nice enough boulder you can pull up that hill behind us."

The blond let a drop of sweat fall from his forehead at that. This guy, despite how nice he could be… he could also be a real ass.

"Alright, well! This chakra exercise is like a mix between the leaf balancing exercise and the water walking exercise. Just a shit ton harder if you ask me." Shisui chuckled while scratching the back of his head.

"Okay… So what do I gotta do?" Naruto asked while stepping up beside Shisui who was in the middle of putting the log into the water.

"Well, let me demonstrate!" Shisui shouted as he leaped up on top of the severed piece of wood and sat down with his legs crossed.

As the water started to grab the wood, it was soon pulled out into the middle of the small lake. But the amazing part was, despite the wood moving out of the middle of the water. It was standing still with no movement at all. Not even some wobbling in the water.

'_I see, the exercise is about balancing the log on either of the sides it has been cut, while also having to make sure it stays on top of the water. Normally wood floats, but I assume that since Shisui's added weight is on top it has a harder time floating.' _Naruto concluded as Shisui leaped off the log.

"Got any theories on how this works?" Shisui asked as he landed on the shore again.

"I assume the exercise is about keeping the log standing straight along with making sure it doesn't go below the water surface," Naruto answered.

"Exactly! This exercise has many levels, this is by far the easiest level I know off. You can also do this with a rock, a boulder, or a piece of metal. The heavier it is, the harder it is." Shisui said with a thumbs up.

Naruto looked out to the piece of wood that has now fallen sideways into the water and sighed. _'Here goes nothing.' _He thought to himself as he walked out on top of the water until he stood by the piece of wood.

The blond grabbed the heavy tree trunk and pushed up to stand straight into the air, and then leaped on top of it. But before he could even take a seat, the log was already falling sideways back into the water.

With a grunt, Naruto jumped off the log and landed on the water surface.

"So I have to start to exercise the minute I touch the wood…" Naruto whispered to himself as he started over again.

He kept this up for about ten minutes, and he had yet to see any progress whatsoever. With an annoyed grunt he did it again, but this time his pants got stuck on the tree bark. With a gasp he clenched his eyes shut while the log threw him down under the water surface.

Naruto climbed on top of the water with an angry expression covering his young face. His wet blond hair was clinging to his forehead, and his first instinct was to check whether or not his necklace was okay. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he realized there hadn't happened the slightest to it.

On the shore Shisui was on the ground holding his stomach, he was laughing so loud that Naruto swore that people over in lightning country could hear it. "I should have told you to drop the clothes!" Shisui shouted with tears in his eyes.

With a tick mark on his forehead, Naruto broke a piece of bark off the log and threw it at Shisui who just watched as it comically just crashed into the water in front of him.

"Uhm, want to have a second try at that?" He asked with a sweatdrop.

"Just shut up…" Naruto grunted embarrassed.

* * *

It had been a good solid six hours, and Naruto was just now learning how to balance the log on top of the water. He still had ways to go before considering it mastered, since the piece of wood was wobbling a great amount when he was sitting on top of it.

Naruto sighed as he backflipped off the log again before it crashed down into the water, he was now just standing in his boxers as his remaining wet clothes were drying on a pair of branches.

"Hey, Naruto! I thought Izumi was going to join us today, where the hell is she?" Shisui asked as he sat on top of another tree log so he could 'inspect' Naruto training from up close. In Naruto's head, this was some bullshit, the teen was just sitting there to watch if anything hilarious happened. Like Naruto crashing into the water… again…

"She was, but as we were about to leave the Uchiha estate her father came out. He said he wanted to teach her a new technique today." Naruto sighed, Fugaku was a troublesome bastard.

Naruto couldn't place Fugaku in that family, he just couldn't. Mikoto was a bright, smiling woman! And Izumi had a heart of gold! And then there was Sasuke, he… well, he was loud. Really damn loud.

Fugaku was the monotone standard Uchiha type. How he could get married to a woman like Mikoto, and get children like Izumi and Sasuke were beyond him. But hey, Kami apparently had a weird twisted sense of humor.

"That's a shame. I was impressed when she came here the other day with you, to think you two share the same trick to avoid the academy was hilarious!" Shisui chuckled as he let a butterfly land on his finger.

"Well, that's…" Naruto stopped himself midsentence as the memories of the clone he had sent to the academy came crashing to him.

Shit was about to burn.

His and Izumi's clone had somehow been caught in the crossfire between a fight that had broken out between some of the younger and elder students. Some of the younger classmen had considered Naruto and Izumi 'gods' to put it lightly after they had stood up against one of the older bullies on their first day there.

The problem wasn't that they had been caught up in a fight, but that three of the Chunin Instructors had stared at their clones as they exploded and disappeared from the academy grounds.

"Well… shit." Naruto muttered as he pushed the log into the water again.

"What's up? Trouble in paradise I assume." Shisui smirked.

"I got to go…" Naruto sighed as he leaped onto a rock, and started to pull his now dry clothes down so he could get dressed.

Shisui was right behind him as he landed beside his blond friend and, well, _student_.

"Wow! Easy there, tell me, what's going on?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I got problems at the academy, our clones were exposed to some angry fists just now. The teachers saw us. If I were to guess, then Izumi is headed there as well." Naruto explained and pulled his shirt over his head.

"Hey, what's that?" Shisui asked as he crouched down and pointed at the beautiful necklace he wore around his neck.

"A birthday gift from Izumi and her mother-

"Oh! Little Naru-chan has a girlfriend!" Shisui screamed with laughter.

"What the hell? She's my best friend you jerk." Naruto growled and swung his jacket on.

Shisui sat down with crossed legs and supported his head on his palm with a knowing grin. "You say that now, but what about when she is a fully developed woman? Oh, I can imagine it already. You two sitting in the moonlight, you're lips coming closer and closer and then-"

Naruto's forehead grew a tickmark the size of a small branch as he kicked the older Uchiha in the chest as he was in the middle of teasing him. And Shisui gasped as he rolled down into the lake.

With a satisfied smirk, Naruto body flickered away from the scene.

Shisui's outraged face came through the water surface as he spat a small fish out of his mouth, "You can just wait, you little shit! You can just wait…"

* * *

Naruto landed on the academy grounds, right in front of the main entrance with a sigh. He just had to get this over with. He was about to open the door when he heard something land behind him, so he turned around to look at his best friend's slightly worried face.

"You saw it too, huh?" Naruto asked with a monotone look, to which Izumi just nodded.

The blond, once again, was about to open the door when two Chunin Instructors opened the door with blank faces, one a male with short brown hair and a beard. And the other a tall blonde woman. "I take it you have come out of hiding, one of you that'd care to tell us where you have been, and how long this little game has gone on?" The male one asked.

Naruto stood in between Izumi and the instructors as he with a blank look and monotone voice said, "I put her up to this, it's my responsibility."

"Oh? What do we have here, a little knight in his bright shining white armor?" The female of the instructors teased as Naruto's cheeks got a bit pink. What was it with people and their endless teasing today?

"Even if you put her up to it, she still has brain enough to make her own decisions. Whether or not she wanted to follow your dumb ideas, was fully up to her." The male one said with crossed arms.

Naruto cursed under his breath. These two were starting to piss him off.

Behind him, Izumi stood surprised with quite wide eyes and gaping mouth. _'Naruto, again… you…' _She thought to herself before her face adopted a frown and she seemed deep in thought.

"Alright, if you got to know we were training. Not together, but with different people. I can have Shisui Uchiha vouch for me if I have to, and I'm sure Izumi's father; Fugaku Uchiha, can vouch for her as well." Naruto added, with the same monotone voice.

The female Chunin sighed while rubbing her forehead, "This doesn't change the fact that you two have been skipping important classes, how long has this gone on?"

"Long enough." The male interrupted.

"But, Hiroshi! We need to figure this out" The female tried but with no luck.

"Please, Kaiya, let me speak." Hiroshi pleaded, making Kaiya sigh but submit to his wishes.

Hiroshi turned around and looked the two monotone looking kids in the eyes. _'This isn't the face of children.' _He thought to himself before coughing into his fist.

"Alright, you two have broken several of the ground rules by doing this, and for kami knows how long it has been going on. But, there is stuff that is surprising to me. You two, used the Shadow Clone Technique, a Jounin level Jutsu if I remember correctly, to do this. Am I correct assuming this?" Hiroshi asked with a stern gaze.

The two nodded together but kept their mouth shut.

"And despite you skipping out of a ton of lessons, the two of you still manage to ace every test given to your clones and always stay on top of the class. I need to know, how this is possible?" Hiroshi asked afterward.

Izumi decided to step forward this time, "The Shadow Clone Jutsu has a lot of unique features compared to the original clone technique, but also any other elemental clone technique. The clone will transfer the memories and experiences it has gained, right back to the user upon dispersal. That is also why we knew when and why to come here."

Hiroshi scratched his beard with a grunt, "I see. So, you _sort of_ has been present to the lessons. Then what about Taijutsu spars and Practice Throwing of shinobi equipment?"

Naruto shrugged, "We showed up in person those time so we didn't blow our covers."

Kaiya then gave a sly smirk, "And the fight that happened earlier couldn't have been thought into the calculations you have gone through. And now after an unexpected situation occurred that let to your clones' dispersal, you decided in a matter of minutes to face this head-on by coming here. I have to say I'm impressed."

Hiroshi seemed to be deep in thought, he looked at their face and their body language for a long time. "Wait in Classroom 6B. It should be empty."

"Hiroshi?" Kaiya asked with a confused expression.

"I'll explain later, but now. I have a place to go to." Hiroshi answered and used the classic Body Flicker to leave the area.

Kaiya let out a frustrated sigh while running a hand through her long locks, "Alright you two! You heard the man. Get into Classroom 6B, and wait for further instructions. I got no idea what is going to happen, so don't ask. You'll have to wait and see what Hiroshi has in mind for you."

The two young kids nodded their heads and walked by Kaiya who stood and rubbed her forehead. _'You better know what you are doing Hiroshi, these kids are trouble I tell ya."_

* * *

In the empty classroom, Izumi and Naruto could hear the yell of Kaiya next door trying to calm the raging class down. Izumi was sitting in a chair with her elbows propped on the table, and her fingers intervened, as her head rested on top.

And Naruto himself was sitting against the wall longest away from the door, under the windows. He sighed as he listened to the clock on the wall. He had one leg lying across the floor, while the knee of his opposite leg was brought up to him so he could prop his arm on it. His remaining hand was held outward, with the palm facing upward as a pencil hovered mere inches about it while spinning around.

He was about to go insane, he hated waiting. But an image of Shisui appeared in his mind. _'To strengthen your willpower, you have to endure stuff you dislike and or even hate. Think of it like that piece of cake, by doing stuff you dislike you're learning how to say no to have it. Imagine the piece of cake being your anger and hate if that helps.' _

So the blond figured that he was training his willpower by not letting his temperament get the better of him, and instead stayed calm in this situation.

"Do you regret it?"

Naruto looked up to Izumi, and she answered the unasked question.

"Do you regret sending you clones here instead of coming yourself?" She asked, with a soft tone.

Naruto shook his head and stopped the pencil from spinning above his palm, and put it on the tip of his finger instead before spinning it again. "No, I don't. I feel like I have gotten a lot stronger with Shisui's help. A lot stronger than I could have gotten by coming here every day."

Izumi nodded at his answer, she felt the same way. Her father might be the definition of the word slave-driver. But with his training he also brought results. She had ever since learning this trick not just learned how to take advantage of the Shadow Clone Jutsu but also learned several new Fire Release Techniques, along with Shuriken Jutsu and basic strategies by playing Shogi.

"So, what does Shisui have you doing?" She asked with curiosity.

Naruto stopped the pencil from spinning again. "Mostly how to not let the anger get the better of me. But also advanced meditation along with other things."

Izumi raised a brow at this, "What 'other things' do you speak of?" She asked and supported her head on her palm while looking at him.

Naruto shrugged and threw the pencil onto a nearby table, "He said my Taijutsu lacked defensive ability, so he taught me some basics of a new Taijutsu style called 'Ferocious Fist' along with Shuriken Jutsu."

"I guess it's hard to fully learn the Taijutsu style of a man that has passed away, I'm sorry that Minato-sama isn't here to teach you the rest of his style," Izumi said with a sorry gaze.

"Yeah… Me too." Naruto sighed, and looked at the door as he heard the doorknob turn around.

When the door opened, Hiroshi walked in first and held the door as none other than the Hokage walked in.

"Oji-san?" Naruto asked with a surprised gaze. Okay, he knew he had broken some rules, but to bring The_ Hokage_ into something like this? That seemed like overreacting.

"Naruto-kun? I'm surprised to see you're here." Hiruzen said with a raised brow before he turned to Hirosi, "Care to tell me what this is about?"

Now it was Naruto's time to raise a confused brow, "You don't know why you are here yet?" He asked.

Hiruzen shook his head, "I was made aware of urgent matters that needed my presence at the academy. I thought that perhaps some student had sent a rogue fireball somewhere and burned the place down, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

"Please forgive me for calling you here on such short notice, Hokage-sama. But this is important. You see, these two have been caught skipping classes by using _Jounin_ level techniques." Hiroshi explained while Hiruzen gave him an unimpressed look.

"You are looking at the two prodigies of this generation, in my opinion, this isn't something that requires my attention," Hiruzen admitted. Naruto and Izumi were strong and he knew that, of course, it surprised him that not only Izumi but Naruto too knew some stuff of such a level at the age of six.

Hiroshi gave a nervous sigh, "I'd like to put these two up for early graduation."

Now, _this_ surprised Hiruzen a lot. It was unheard of letting students this young graduate out of wartime. "I must say I'm unsure of this decision Hiroshi-san. These two are the mere age of six, it's unheard of letting them graduate this young without a war."

"Please, hear me out. They have both executed Jounin level techniques perfectly, to be precise, they used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to avoid lessons but still managed to stay at the top of the class in their absence. I'd be thrilled if you would at least consider this choice of action." Hiroshi said with a bow.

Hiruzen sighed and looked at the young students who were just as surprised as he was, "Stand up Hiroshi-san, prepare last year's written exam and let's see how they fare."

Naruto and Izumi's eyes widened. They were about to take a graduation exam without finishing _one_ year at the academy? This was insane!

In about half an hour Hiroshi had placed Naruto and Izumi as far away from each other as possible and laid down a written exam in front of them along with a pencil and an eraser.

Hiruzen coughed into his fist and spoke, "As the rules go, you in ten seconds got half an hour to finish the tests before you. Best of luck to you two, and be aware it's okay to fail this exam without more academic experience."

The ten seconds was over fast, and Hiroshi told them to begin.

Half an hour later, Hiroshi asked them to place their pencils on the desk and lay their tests face down. They both did as asked, and Hiroshi picked up the tests and put them before the Hokage who was placed behind the teacher's desk.

It didn't take long for Hiruzen to go through the two tests, they were almost identical. In the end, Hiruzen sighed and noted to himself that Izumi had gotten ninety-seven out of a hundred questions correct, and Naruto followed behind with ninety-five questions correct.

"I'm done going through these tests, and I got to say I am surprised to announce that both of you have passed the first exam with flying colors. Now, the next portion will be the ninjutsu exam. In this exam, you will both have to do the mandatory academy Jutsu being the Transformation Jutsu, the Replacement Jutsu, and also the Clone Jutsu." Hiruzen informed, and the two best friends looked at each other with a relieved smile.

"Now, for saving Hokage-sama some time, we will do both of you at the same. Please stand here in front of us." Hiroshi said, and they did as asked.

"Now, please do the Transformation Jutsu first." Hiruzen requested.

Naruto and Izumi both went through the required hand seals and was simultaneously engulfed in a minor smoke cloud that disappeared to reveal Naruto and Izumi transformed like the other.

"Now, please release the technique," Hiroshi said after about thirty seconds, he waited to make sure that they could both keep the transformation up with no troubles which they could.

They released the transformation, and as if they had just swapped places, appeared back where they had been standing before.

Hiroshi nodded to Hiruzen who nodded back, and then the middle-aged Academy Teacher went out into the room and pulled two chairs up to the windows.

"Next, is the Replacement Jutsu. Please swap positions with one of these chairs." Hiroshi said and walked back to stand behind Hiruzen as the promising young students went through the required hand seals yet again.

The traditional cloud of smoke appeared again a few seconds later, to reveal Naruto and Izumi still standing there.

Hiroshi walked up from behind the desk and pushed chakra into their chests, and the two disappeared to reveal the two chairs standing right beside each, but now in front of the teacher's desk.

Hiruzen and Hiroshi looked over to the window and watched Izumi and Naruto standing together while giving their signature small smile to each other, causing them to let out a small smirk as well.

"Now, I'd like the two of you to do a Shadow Clone for me," Hiruzen asked while the smirk has yet to have left his face.

A bit surprised that they were requested to do a Shadow Clone and not a normal Clone, the two put their hands into the cross sign and pumped chakra into it. Behind them, as expected, appeared a single clone.

Hiruzen chuckled at this, "So, I see it's true that the two of you have come to learn this technique. If I may ask, where did the two of you pick this up?"

"Shisui Uchiha."

"My father, Fugaku Uchiha."

Hiruzen nodded at the answer, though he was a bit surprised that Shisui also had this technique under his belt. The boy was about ten if he remembered correctly, so that was also extremely impressing.

The old Hokage let out a pleased sigh, "You have yet again passed with flying colors, though I am a bit hesitant about this. I'm proud to announce that the two of you have passed as the youngest graduates to ever come out of this academy." Hiruzen then smiled a bright smile at the end.

Izumi's eyes widened, and Naruto's eyes got a bit of the flame back, he had lost back as the two made a quite rare sight. They high-fived.

Hiruzen's eyes fell on Izumi. This girl, she had such an effect on his surrogate grandson that made him almost appear as his old self again.

"Now, I would like for the two of you to appear at the Hokage Tower tomorrow. You will both be presented with your headbands and a team. Since the two of you are early graduates, you will be filled onto a current team that has a single position or more open." The Hokage informed the two.

Hiroshi wiped a tear away from under his eye, "To think I would be a teacher of two students graduating so young!" He said while giving a small victory dance until the Hokage's glare stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Alright now, the two of you are dismissed, for the time being, you as well Hiroshi-san, I assume you have a class to teach. Izumi-san, I would like you to stay here for a chat with me. Don't worry it isn't anything bad." Hiruzen assured her.

Naruto gave Izumi a last smile before he walked out of the classroom along with his _former_ teacher.

When the door shut with an audible sound, Hiruzen turned to look at Izumi with a big smile. "Relax young one, I'm just going to tell you that I'm eternally grateful for being such a good and kind friend to my surrogate grandson."

Realizing he meant Naruto, Izumi smiled that small smile she was so known for, "Naruto is my best friend and my only friend beside Shisui. I wouldn't ever dare to treat him badly, I care for him too much to do that."

The old man chuckled and kept the smile on his face. "I know, I have seen the gift you gave him. I hope you know how much Naruto treasure that necklace."

Izumi's cheeks got a bit pink after that. "It was my mother's idea, but I was certainly not against it." She said, her smile growing.

"I'm still pleased with you, he needs support around these times. It might have been a bit since it happened now, but I can still sense that it affects him a lot." Hiruzen admitted with a frown.

"It does. He sometimes has periods, where he appears even more Uchiha than me." Izumi admitted.

Hiruzen couldn't help but give a single sad chuckle at that, "So, he has a tendency to let his emotions get the better of him sometimes?"

"Afraid so, but I hear Shisui is helping him with this. I don't know how, but it seems to be working wonders." Izumi said.

"Pleased to hear it, now, I won't hold you any longer. Congratulations on the passing, it's impressive for someone so young." Hiruzen nodded at her, and she bowed her head in gratitude before excusing herself and left the room.

Naruto had been waiting on the outside, and asked, "What did he want to talk about?"

Izumi told him part of the truth, "He said he was pleased with us and our friendship. He was also just expressing his gratitude as your surrogate grandfather. He thinks we have a good effect on each other."

Nodding his head, and accepting the answer Naruto asked, "Want to go eat something and celebrate? We can perhaps do some training afterward."

"I'm free for the rest of the day, father won't expect me home before dinner." She nodded, and then they exited the academy.

* * *

**As you probably can guess by now, we are mere steps from being done. If I succeed to do my plan for the story correctly, we might be ready for the first major time skip at the end of the next chapter.**


	6. Student of the Snake

_**Chapter 6.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Izumi (Female Itachi)**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

_**Author's note: The end of this arc is near. It has happened quite fast to me, I finished the Fox Attack Arc and now almost the Academy Arc. It's two small arcs, I know. But I still feel like we have made some good progress. Anyway, enjoy the chapter! Reviews are appreciated.**_

_**And to the child that reviewed last time, 'Boring bye trash' grow a pair and turn your PM's on, perhaps even write a story yourself. Then I'll perhaps take you seriously. Yet I doubt it will happen.**_

* * *

The sound of a frustrated sigh escaped Hiruzen's lips, as he laid down yet another folder. It was morning now, and the two young graduates from yesterday could show up any second now, and he had yet to find a team that was open for recruiting some new blood, where there were a total of two spots free.

He had, of course, found several teams lacking a single member, along with a few times lacking two. But the problem with the later teams was that they weren't searching for a new genin, and had requested to stay a unit even with a member down.

Opening an extra folder Hiruzen looked it over a few times. This team had graduated around two years ago and had sadly lost their third genin on a C-Ranked bandit elimination mission. This was Team Minazuki, or formerly known as Team 2.

The Jounin sensei of Team Minazuki had requested one of the young prodigies joining their team. The Uchiha Heiress. Sighing Hiruzen figured that he should start to consider accepting this request. This, of course, meant he would have to go against the young genins' unspoken wish of being on the same team.

The other problem he was left with after confirming this, was other genin teams with enough promising skills as shinobi. Naruto, despite his young age, was far beyond most of these teams in terms of skill and intelligence. But he couldn't leave Naruto on reserves forever, so making a decision that was much against his own will, Hiruzen grabbed his pen.

Just as he was about to sign a paper confirming Naruto's transfer from genin reserves, and onto one of the less promising teams. He heard a knock on the door. Raising a brow at the door, he wondered who it could be. His secretary hadn't informed him of any meetings, and if it were either Naruto or Izumi his secretary had promised to show them in.

"Come in," Hiruzen said after coughing into his fist, and flipping the folders he was about to write in shut.

The doorknob turned, and Hiruzen raised a brow as a very familiar pale man entered through the door. His outfit was quite simple, it was just a Jounin uniform along with a small grey cloak that was hanging from his neck and down to his thighs.

"Hello, Sarutobi-sensei." The man spoke, with a smirk gracing his lips.

"Orochimaru, what do I owe the pleasure?" Hiruzen answered the pale man, that was now identified as Orochimaru.

"Oh this and that, I heard you let two surprising students graduate yesterday. I have to admit they were quite the talk at the Dango stand yesterday." Orochimaru said with a snicker escaping his lips.

Hiruzen let out a dry chuckle, "I take it Anko-san dragged you out for Dango again yesterday?"

"That she did, that she did. I must admit my paychecks are starting to fear what they're used for these days." Orochimaru chuckled as well.

Hiruzen gave a final cough after finishing his chuckling, "Not that I don't enjoy your company, but can I ask why you are blessing me with your presence today?"

Orochimaru shrugged, "Oh, I was just wondering where you were going to place these young graduates. I don't think I recall any teams that lack members, with enough skill to match them."

"I have just signed the transfer papers for young Izumi and were just about to do the same with Naruto when you arrived. Any reason for your sudden interest?" Hiruzen asked curiously.

Orochimaru adopted a thinking post, "Oh, I was just realizing that my team could use a new member. Anko gets quite lonely, but she doesn't play well with others. If you say either of these two is as promising as I hear they are. I might take one."

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, it wasn't like Orochimaru to go out of his way like this. "Any, _other_, reason for your potential request?"

"Oh, Sarutobi-sensei, I sense you don't trust me with their safety," Orochimaru said with a smirk.

Hiruzen snorted, "I don't doubt your strength to protect them, but I will ask you again. Any _other_ reason for your request?"

Orochimaru gave a long sigh, "After all the rumors flying around the village, I couldn't help but get interested. Especially Minato's son seems quite promising, even more so if he were to be placed on my team."

Hiruzen adopted a thinking look. _'Orochimaru would certainly be more useful as a teacher for Naruto than any of the other Jounin senseis available.' _

"What could you teach him, _if_ I were to accept your request?" Hiruzen answered after a good solid minute.

Orochimaru gave a grin, "Well, he would be a disciple of one of the Sannin. With Jiraiya-baka so much out of town, I find myself best qualified for teaching him. And don't even think about bringing Danzo's silly training request into this, we both know I am _much_ stronger than that old fool."

Hiruzen rubbed his temples, "Danzo's choices of action might be questionable, but his motives are not. I would prefer if you spoke of him with just a bit more respect."

Shrugging Orochimaru said, "Respect is earned, not given. If that old fool gives me a reason to, I shall gladly respect him."

Knowing this was true, Hiruzen decided to drop it. "You still haven't answered my question, what will you be able to teach Naruto-kun?"

"Well, of course, he will be taught some of my more personal techniques. If he wishes to sign the summoning contract of the snakes, I shall allow him. I'm also qualified to teach him to use wind release or fire release if either of these shall be recognized as his affinity. I can also teach him the art of kenjutsu, and taijutsu shouldn't be out of the question either." Orochimaru explained smoothly.

"What if his affinity were shown to be one of the other five?" Hiruzen asked.

Orochimaru snorted, "Should be simple enough to fetch him a scroll or invoke a favor from someone capable to teach him."

Hiruzen gave a long sigh, Orochimaru did come with some good points.

Orochimaru upon seeing the upgiving look on Hiruzen's face gave a sly smirk. _'The Uzumaki is almost within my grasp now, the blood in his veins is so close I can practically taste it!" _

"Alright Orochimaru, you get your wish. Naruto Uzumaki shall be transferred to your two-man cell, thus changing it to a three-man cell."

"Excellent, I shall wait for him at our usual training ground. And no worries, I won't let Anko bite him. Too much." Orochimaru chuckled before leaving the room using the body flicker.

Hiruzen gave yet another sigh while fearing that this was starting to become a habit. He would have requested Orochimaru to take Izumi on his team, but the Sannin had shown his interest in Naruto and figured that he was who he wished to teach.

Orochimaru had been given tons of offers concerning new genin, but the pale man had always refused while claiming that they didn't interest him. So, if he didn't show any interest in teaching Izumi, it would almost be pointless to ask.

* * *

Orochimaru landed in the usual clearing he trained Anko in and laughed to himself. _'If I manage to get the blood of Uzumaki, I'll be miles closer to figuring out a way to take the Sharingan for myself. That damned eye is such a powerful tool that it will require a tool equivalent in strength to tame it.'_

"Senseeei!" A loud high-pitched voice called, as a short girl with purple hair grunted as she made her way through the trees.

"Damn bushes always grabbing onto my clothes…" She mumbled as she pulled some thorns out her shirt. Her simple outfit consisted of a brown-red t-shirt with bracelets, white-shorts and fishnet leggings.

"Anko-chan, you are on time for once," Orochimaru said in an amused tone.

Anko gave a grin and gave a thumbs up, "Yeah! The row at the Dango stand wasn't filled with people today, so I got my fill in a matter of minutes."

"Good, wouldn't want you to be late today. You are gaining a new teammate in a few hours, a rather young but talented one." Orochimaru said, noticing Anko's look of confusion.

"How come we are getting a new teammate, it's not like we have lacked one before." Anko sighed while crossing her arms.

The sannin sat down against a tree, "Oh, come on Anko. He's Naruto Uzumaki, one of the two youngest graduates in the leaf's history."

"Naruto Uzumaki, as in Minato Namikaze our Fourth Hokage's kid?" Anko asked surprised. That boy wasn't more than a few years old!

Orochimaru chuckled, "The one and only."

"How can he already be a genin? He can't be that old yet if I were to guess I'd say he was three or four!" Anko almost yelled.

Orochimaru chuckled at her obvious distaste of a new member. "He is six Anko, and so talented that he graduated yesterday. He didn't even have to finish one year in the academy before Sarutobi-sensei was forced to see reason and graduate him. Also hence why I requested him to join our little dream team."

"You requested him?! But, Orochimaru-sensei, he could get killed! He is so young, I can't disagree with him being quite cute, but he is only six!" The Dango lover yelled.

Orochimaru gave a glare to silence her, before saying. "Naruto-kun is so talented that I wouldn't put it past him to best you in a spar. Of course, your experience and size could gain you the edge, but you have only been under my wing for around a month."

Anko gave her sensei a disgusted look, "Come on now, aren't you exaggerating a bit? He is a mere kid, how strong could he be?"

The pale sannin gave a quiet shrug, "I hear he has received training from Sarutobi-sensei, Shisui of the Uchiha and also a light amount from Kakashi Hatake. Not to mention he must have gotten a bit of training down with Minato before he passed."

Anko flew back in surprise. This kid had received training from so many highly skilled people!

Seeing the look on her face, Orochimaru sighed. "Give him a chance, who knows, maybe you will get along quite nicely."

"If you say so…" Anko grunted.

"Was that so hard?" Orochimaru asked with a teasing tone.

Anko blew him a raspberry, much to the Sannin's amusement.

"Well, for that little stunt. Twenty laps around the clearing, now get a move on. We want to be done with this warm-up before our new teammate arrives." Orochimaru said while clapping his hands together.

"T-Twenty laps?! Come on now, you must be overreacting!" Anko tried.

"Twenty-five laps, get a move on." Orochimaru snorted.

"Fine, fine, I'll do twenty! I'm sorry! Grumpy sensei..."

"You just made it thirty…"

"GAAAAARH!"

* * *

A soft sigh escaped the old man's lips as his heavy footsteps echoed in the office. The sun was entering the windows behind him, allowing anyone watching from his front to only see a dark figure with a bright outline.

"This is only for good measure since I already know your answer." He sighed and clenched the forehead protector within his grasp.

The young blond boy looked up with a blank face as the old Hokage took a firm stance.

Smiling the old man started speaking. "As a reward for completing the leaf's ninja academy, Naruto Uzumaki, I Hiruzen Sarutobi, your Third Hokage, present to you the opportunity to join the ranks of the leaf's military forces. Do you, Naruto Uzumaki, if you decide to take this headband, swear upon your life to protect the leaf and the citizen within it? And to obey your Kage and superior allies without question?" Hiruzen had said with a proud smile on his face.

Smirking a bit with pride, Naruto looked up at his grandfather figure. "I swear upon my life, to give my very being to the good of the village."

Hiruzen chuckled, "Very well then, I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, now declare you an official member of the village's military strength and family. Congratulations, on your new status of genin. I wish you the best of lucks, and I'll drag you back from the afterlife myself if you end up in a bodybag before I pass away."

Naruto couldn't help but let out a few loose chuckles from his lips at his grandfather's half joke and half promise. "No worries, I don't plan on dying anytime soon. I promised Tou-san that much."

"It pleases me that you speak of him with so much honor in your voice and features, I see very much of him in you." Hiruzen smiled and clapped the young man's shoulder.

"I strive to be the best I can be now, both for myself and my sister. I saw my father as a great man, so to be great for Akeno, I strive to follow his ideals and morals. Especially since I find myself agreeing with by far most of them." Naruto spoke, his choice of words resembling more an adult's instead of a mere child's.

'_I watch you resembling your old self even more with every day that passes, but in reality, you are still so far from being that…' _Hiruzen thought to himself with a frown.

"Anything wrong Oji-san?"

Hiruzen was broken out of his thoughts, as he looked at the worried expression of his adoptive grandson.

"Ah yes, I just got lost in memory lane for a second. You just look so much like your father wearing that outfit, if I'm not mistaken it's to one he wore as a kid as well." Hiruzen said with a smile, and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I found it in a box along with a picture of him and his genin team. I felt drawn to it, and now I don't want to part with it." Naruto explained with a smile.

Realizing he still had Naruto's headband within his grasp, coughed into his free hand. "As I said before this, change of topic. Congratulations, here is your headband. Wear it with pride." He smiled.

Naruto accepted the shining piece of metal from Hiruzen's grasp and tied it neatly around his forehead.

The old man watched with a sad smile as the blond adjust the thing on his forehead, but quickly hid it away when the blond looked at him for further instruction as to what he was supposed to do now.

"Alright, as much as I'm sad to say it. You and young Izumi aren't on the same team. There was a lot of stuff that didn't allow that hence I was forced to separate you. Izumi is already with her team now, and I shall now send you to yours." Hiruzen said and handed him a slip of paper.

_Training Ground 1._

"Your sensei is Orochimaru of the Sannin, one of my former students. He has a young pupil that got transferred to his team around a month ago, her name is Anko. She can be a bit of a mouthful, but she means well." Hiruzen explained.

"But, how come Izumi and I, didn't both go onto this team?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"The team Izumi is assigned to is a team that specifically requested her, while Orochimaru showed great interest in you, and thus requested you to be transferred from reserves and onto his team. I could tell from Orochimaru's words that it was you or nobody." Hiruzen sighed.

"Alright then," Naruto said, mimicking Hiruzen's sigh.

Naruto turned around and started to leave for the door when Hiruzen spoke again, "It's the training ground furthest to the north from here."

Nodding at that, Naruto left the room and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Leaping from branch to branch inside a thick forest, Naruto looked down at the note in his hands. _'Training Ground 1' _He thought to himself.

He had passed three so far, but neither of them had been the one he was looking for. Hiruzen had said it was the one farthest to the north, hence why he was now traveling through the thick forests to the north of the Hokage tower.

When he came to see a clearing within the thick forest, he heard a young girl's groan. "You're such a slave driver sensei!" She had screamed, and it had been so high pitched he could hear his ears ringing.

"Do you want to do twenty more laps around the clearing Anko?" A man's voice, who was clearly annoyed, sounded afterward.

"N-No! I'm sorry sensei, please forgive me…" She sighed afterward.

"Fine, fine. We can settle ten." He chuckled.

"WHAT! Oh hell no!" She yelled again, making Naruto's ear feel like they were about to bleed.

The blond boy stopped on a branch right beside the clearing, his form hidden by the leaves and shadows. He watched the two interact for a few minutes and managed to figure out what type of people they were quite fast.

Anko was a loudmouth, brash, stubborn, and acting without thinking. Their sensei, on the other hand, was calm and collected. But he had a sadistic side to him and seemingly _loved _to watch young Kunoichi suffer his training regime.

Orochimaru had felt someone watch them for quite a while, but wanted to see if the person was going to come down on his own. When he felt like he had waited long enough, his patience had run-up.

"My, my, it seems like we have a spy in our nest, Anko. Care to join us Naruto-kun? It would be a shame to at least not introduce ourselves to each other before we run out of sunlight, wouldn't you agree?" Orochimaru said, in a calm and smooth voice.

The blond wasn't surprised that he had been found out. This was Orochimaru after all, _the_ Orochimaru. He decided he had been watching long enough, and let himself fall from the branch and into the clearing.

"My apologies, I merely wanted to make myself an idea of who you were before introducing myself." The boy said with a small bow.

Orochimaru couldn't help but snicker, "Now, now, enough with all the formalities. I'm quite used to rude behavior, and yours is none of the sorts. Remember I train Anko? It doesn't get ruder than that."

"Hey!" The purple-haired girl shouted as she stopped running. When she had stopped, she saw who had arrived and smirked.

Naruto himself felt a shiver run down his spine as he felt a hot breath against his neck, "Hey new blood! Youngblood at that." She snickered and tried to touch his golden locks.

But Naruto's spooked state made him act on autopilot. He grabbed her wrist and hurled her into the ground in front of him. "Ooooh…" She groaned in pain.

"Hey! What the hell was that about?! I was just joking with you!" She yelled, and Naruto grabbed his ears with a wince.

"Could you quiet down a little Anko, it seems our new teammate has sensitive hearing." Orochimaru groaned, making the pre-teen glare his way.

"Are you suggesting I'm loud?!" She screamed again.

"Are you suggesting I'm not able to make you do fifty laps around the village for disrespecting behavior toward your elder and sensei?" Orochimaru asked in a threatening tone.

"WHA?! No, no, no! Anything but that!" She said slumping down onto the ground with her forehead against the dirt.

As this went on, Naruto stood with a sweatdrop going down his forehead. Was this supposed to be his team? He just hoped the training was better than the communication. He hoped he didn't die sometime in the field because Anko angered a wild boar with her voice.

"Naruto-kun? You still with us?" Orochimaru chuckled after some time.

Naruto returned to the real world to see Anko wrapped up in _snakes_ and hanging from a tree branch. "What is… What are… I'm lost for words, I got no idea what to say now." Naruto said shocked.

"She has to learn how to respect her elders, along with her superiors. I doubt I'll have to do too much for you in that area, am I correct to assume so?" Orochimaru asked, and the blond just nodded.

"I'll behave."

"Good." Orochimaru smiled and clapped his hands together making the snakes around Anko disappear so she fell the ground with a loud thud.

"Owww…"

Naruto sweatdropped again, at least this wasn't going to be as boring as he thought. He had heard countless tales from his older brother figure, Kakashi, about how the genin days could be even more boring than the academy if he had gotten a bad team.

"Come, sit with me. Let's introduce ourselves." Orochimaru requested, and sat down with crossed legs. The two genin sat down as well, forming a circle so they could look and listen to each other.

Orochimaru gave a quick grunt before saying, "Alright then, since Anko and I both have done with before, let us do it first so you can have somewhat an idea of what to say. I'll go first. What we will focus on are who we are, what we like, dislike and our dreams. It would be pleasant if you could tell us what you'd like to learn and specialize in, along with what you have under your belt already."

The Sannin paused and took a breath. "My name is Orochimaru and one of the Legendary Sannin. What I like is simple, I like my Snake summons, and at rare times Anko. What I dislike, is people receiving great gifts and titles without deserving. My dream would be to learn every jutsu that is out there, but that would require more than a few lifetimes. So, I guess you could say I'm in a hurry. I specialize in snake jutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu. But I'm keen to use and teach Kenjutsu as well."

Realizing he was done, Naruto nodded and waited for Anko to start. Which she did with a loud shout. "Yosh! I'm Mitarashi Anko! I love Dango, Fire based techniques and my all but blood sisters, Yugao-chan and Kurenai-chan! I dislike perverts, arrogant people, and shitheads! My dream is to be stronger than Tsunade herself! I don't currently specialize in anything, but a know a few Fire jutsu and taijutsu!" Anko yelled out with pride.

Orochimaru nodded and looked at Naruto, "Would you like to give it a shot now Naruto?... Naruto?" Orochimaru asked with a raised brow.

Said blond said and rubbed his ears, "What? Did you say anything?!" He yelled after feeling his ears hurt.

"Would. You. Like. To. Give. It. A. Shot?!" Orochimaru yelled back, and Naruto responded with a loud yell saying 'yes'.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like my sister, my brother figure Kakashi, my grandfather figure, along with the few friends I trust. I dislike the nine-tails, death, pain, and people who look at me with pity as if I were made out of glass. My dream? I suppose it would be to watch my sister grow up in peace. I have yet to specialize in anything, but I'm confident in my ability to defend myself using taijutsu and various tools." Naruto finished.

Orochimaru nodded while cupping his chin. "I see, what would you like to specialize in then?"

Naruto seemed to think for a few seconds, "I'd say I find myself leaning toward kenjutsu or ninjutsu."

"Why not both?" This time it was Anko that spoke up.

"Wouldn't it take too long?" Naruto asked confused.

Orochimaru shook his head, "If you work hard and use that immense talent of yours, I wouldn't think it'll take more than a few years for you to get quite skilled at both things."

Naruto seemed pleased with the answer and said he would like to do his best to master both arts.

"I guess we should get to it then, alright you two, I want to see you over at those training dummies going through five hundred kicks and punches," Orochimaru ordered.

"F-Five hundred?! You got to be insane! I'm sure blondie agrees with me on this, right? Naruto?" Anko looked beside her to find the spot the blond had sat in empty, she looked shocked over at the training dummies to watch the blond slamming his fists into the wooden dummy at a high pace.

"Seems like he disagrees, you should follow his example and get started." Orochimaru laughed with a smirk.

Anko pouted, if Naruto was so keen to follow orders already it would be those two against her in any argument! She couldn't allow that, they would never eat Dango again then!

* * *

To say that Orochimaru's training was similar to torture was an understatement. It had barely been almost two years, before the snake resembling man had tossed a bokken to the ground, allowing Naruto to stare at it.

"Pick it up." He answered with a blank face.

The almost eight-years-old blond raised a brow and stretched his arm out to grab the wooden sword. But when he was about to grab the hilt, Orochimaru slammed his own bokken onto the blond's wrist.

The blond grunted and looked up at the Sannin with an annoyed expression, "You died, never take your eyes away from your opponent. He won't hesitate to strike you. Now, pick it up."

Naruto grabbed a rock from the grass and threw at Orochimaru, the said main looked on amused as he blocked the flying rock with the side of his bokken. He looked back at Naruto and was about to ask what it was about when his eyes widened at Naruto standing crouched down with the bokken between his hands.

"So, you used the rock as a distraction. That's quite clever." Orochimaru praised.

The time since he had graduated had been quite good to Naruto, he was starting to grow a lot. Not only as a shinobi but as a person. However, just as Hiruzen had predicted, Naruto never returned to the way he once was. But he seemed to have developed a new personality, a persona that didn't allow him to trust people too easily in fear of losing them later on.

This also meant that Naruto rarely befriended anyone that wasn't so strong that they could take care of themselves. His group of friends hadn't developed much, he hung out with Shisui, Izumi and recently Anko a lot these days.

The older Dango loving Kunoichi had at first been against the thought of befriending him, but when he had apologized for how their first meeting went by buying her Dango, she gave him a shot. It surprised her that she liked to spend time with the blond, he was a blank canvas to her, he lacked color and rarely spoke without that monotone tone of his.

If she had counted the times she had seen him smile, a _real _smile, it would be doable to count them on two hands. It was when he was with Izumi, or managed to beat Shisui at something along with learning and mastering a new technique.

All in all, he had changed a lot. He was taller too, it was a rare sight for a child being seven having his height. He was only half a head shorter than Anko were.

His wardrobe was much the same, a black forehead protector, black pants and sandals and a dark blue shirt. The only real change was the jacket he had hung up on a wall at home. It was one of the things his dad had from his childhood, and he would hate to see it getting torn apart during a mission so he settled for leaving it at home.

Back to present Orochmari took a quick stance and slammed his bokken sideway toward Naruto, who brought his own to block it. Much to the blond's surprise, the mere force behind the slash was enough to send him sliding a few inches to the side, despite his firm stance.

"You put all your strength into your arms, you have to use your entire body to truly master how to use a sword," Orochimaru said swirling around to send a slash to Naruto's opposite side, which the blond sidestepped.

When Naruto tried to counter with an attack of his own, he had raised his wooden sword only to be poked in the gut by the tip of Orochimaru's bokken. "You are too slow to strike, thus you leave your body's vital areas wide open."

The blond doubled over and groaned as he felt his insides crying for help. "Yeah, yeah. I need some work, you can't believe I would get the hang of it in the first try…"

"What if I did? You've done countless things in your first try while I taught you, why should this have been any different?" Orochimaru smirked.

"As far as I'm concerned, you can't truly fight with a blade unless it becomes part of you like any other limb of your body," Naruto said in between pants as he had an arm wrapped around his abdomen.

Orochimaru nodded, "That's correct, hence why we need to show your body how to let the sword become part of you. If you want to live that is." The man grinned as he started doing rapid slashes at the blond.

As he had first assumed after watching Orochimaru, the man took great pleasure in making other people suffer his training regimes. Right now he was laughing, and it was because he was beating him senseless with a damn sword formed stick!

Naruto dodged a few slashes and even managed to block one more before the bokken was sent flying out of his hand, and he was knocked onto his butt by the hilt of Orochimaru's own bokken.

"Come on now, I'm not even moving much faster than Chunin speed! Show me what you got, you want to be a swordsman, do you not?" Orochimaru snickered and slashed down at unarmed blond.

Naruto rolled backward to avoid the bokken that was hurled into the ground, he sped to the side and grabbed his own and turned around so fast he almost fell just to block the slash intended for his back.

"That's more like it, show me what you got!" Orochimaru shouted as things started to go smoother. Despite not being able to block all the attacks, he managed to avoid most. And even when he was disarmed by Orochimaru, he was starting to manage to get back into the fight with less trouble than before.

Half an hour later Naruto fell onto his back, as his bokken snapped in two. He groaned as he lay spread out on the grass, his chest rising and falling at a rapid pace.

"Perhaps I went too hard on you, a bokken shouldn't snap like that." Orochimaru mused.

"You think?" Naruto grunted as he grabbed his side while still laying spread out in the grass.

Orochimaru shrugged, "I'm impressed, without any formal training in the art of kenjutsu you managed to stay on your feet and fight for thirty-three minutes. Even though I only fought with mid-Chunin strength, it's still impressive!" The Sannin praised.

"Couldn't you have come to that conclusion, _before _you managed to almost break one of my rips?" Naruto asked with a heated glare.

"What would be the fun in that?" Orochimaru smirked.

Naruto felt deja vu at that. "You sound just like Oji-san." He mumbled.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I suppose." The Sannin shrugged and sheathed the bokken in his belt and stuck a hand out to help the blond up from the ground.

Naruto grabbed the man's pale hand as he was pulled from the ground. Standing on his wobbly legs, Naruto panted as his muscles cried.

It was at this moment Anko decided to show herself, she was about to scream her greeting when she noticed Naruto's state, and especially his wobbly legs. "Looks like someone fucked you stupid last night, didn't know you were on the other team." She giggled and slapped his back.

"I'm not, and I just got beaten to a pulp by that psycho," Naruto said in the usual monotone voiced and pointed a thumb at Orochimaru who just made a comical wave.

Anko just resumed teasing, "It's nothing to be ashamed of! I hear Guy is on that team too."

Naruto's forehead grew a large tick mark as he reached over and grabbed Orochimaru's bokken and slammed into the back of her head as he scoffed.

"Itai! What was that for?" Anko cried as she rubbed her head.

"For being a pain in my ass, and being late. _Again._" Naruto said, spitting the last word out with much annoyance.

Anko gritted her teeth and glared at him. She hated to admit it, but he was a little stronger than she was already. She hated the fact but didn't hate him. He was too adorable to hate.

She herself had grown as a Kunoichi while her persona remained the same. She had gotten a little taller, learned a lot of new stuff the last year, and was already asking when they were going to do the chunin exams.

Orochimaru had answered that by saying, 'When Naruto-kun had decided whether he wants to sign the summoning contract or not.' she had asked him why that was the thing determining whether or not they would enter. The Sannin without answered had joked, 'Someone has to look after you, right ?' She had been forced to do thirty laps around the clearing after badmouthing Orochimaru for half an hour afterward.

"Well, Anko, since you decided to bless us with your presence, _this late_, you'll stay with me for training while Naruto-kun has the rest of the day off to rest," Orochimaru said, making Anko look at him like he had grown a second head.

"Oh come on! We had been promised to spar today!" She yelled, feeling disappointed that she couldn't show Naruto what she had learned to do in a spar.

Orochimaru raised a brow, "Naruto-kun is just barely able to stand, and he has been training with me the past three hours. You, on the other hand, have been sitting at the Dango stand, eating your day away. There will be no spar today, Naruto-kun you are dismissed. Thank you for showing up on time, we shall continue our kenjutsu lessons tomorrow."

Naruto bowed to his sensei and said. "Thanks, sensei, I'm grateful for your teachings."

"At least someone is well-behaved and grateful for being on the team," Orochimaru said, talking more to Anko than Naruto.

"Oh just shut up! Let's get this over with." Anko shouted, and glared at Naruto's retreating back.

'_Damn you for leaving me alone with all this torture!'_

* * *

Naruto jumped across rooftops, he had just been sleeping on the couch for around two hours regaining his strength. Despite how much he hated the overgrown furball in his gut, he couldn't disagree with the healing abilities it provided was useful.

He still had some bruises and scrapes here and there, and he was sore. He was damn sore everywhere. But he could at least move on his own now without it being too difficult.

While jumping across the village through the rooftops, he couldn't help but let his mind wander back. The almost two years had been great, he had been assigned to this team, and despite Anko being loud and Orochimaru-sensei being odd. He liked it.

Especially since Orochimaru took them on a lot of C-Rank missions, instead of doing D-Rank missions all day.

Sighing Naruto landed on the ground beside a big oak tree and looked up at the Sarutobi Estate hidden under the leaves of various big trees. He walked up to the door and knocked on the red front door a couple of times.

He heard a soft 'Coming' and waited patiently. When the door opened, it revealed Hiruzen's daughter in a simple black outfit along with a white cooking apron.

"Good afternoon Moriko-sama, I'm here to pick Akeno-chan up." He stated with a small bow.

Moriko's forehead grew a tickmark as she knocked him on top of his head with a wooden spoon. "Moron, how many times have I told you to call me Moriko!"

"My apologies." Naruto just grunted while rubbing his head.

"How come you are so early today? You normally first arrive an hour before dinner time." She asked.

Naruto rubbed his sore midsection and chuckled, "Orochimaru-sensei gave me the rest of the day off today, we went a little too hard at the training so he felt like I could use some rest."

Moriko sighed at that, he was always training or doing missions. "Naruto-kun, one day these excessive training will be the death of you." She grunted and turned around.

"Akeno-chan! Your Nii-chan is here for you." She yelled and looked down the hallway.

Naruto's face lit up after a few seconds, a smile graced his lips as his face softened. Running down the hallway was a small girl with blue eyes, her skin was a bit tanned, and her long red hair flew behind her as she ran with open arms.

"Nii-nii!" She screamed making the blond chuckle. She still had difficulty speaking of course, but she had learned to speak a bit.

Naruto crouched down and opened his arms as the young girl swung her arms around his neck, "Up! Up!" She giggled, and he had to sigh at that. She was such a child.

Picking her she nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder, making him sigh yet again but with a smile on his face, she was such a child, but he didn't mind. He still loved her very much.

"Did you behave?" Naruto asked with a kind voice, but the small girl just looked at him with an odd stare.

"Beh… Behav...Beh…" She mumbled.

"Behaved, Akeno-chan. Were you nice?" Naruto tried again, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Uh-huh! Nice! Nice!" She nodded with a bright smile.

"Is that so?" Naruto chuckled and looked at Moriko for confirmation, and the older woman just nodded her head.

"She behaved well, though, she has a lot of energy. She certainly takes after Kushina-chan." She chuckled.

"You don't say…" Naruto mumbled while looking down at the hyperactive child that was busy staring at a butterfly.

Moriko shrugged as she leaned against the doorframe. "It was to be expected, you took so much after Minato-kun after all."

Naruto grunted, "I guess I did."

"You were a lot like your mother back in the day, though."

Sighing he nodded, "Certain things made me grow up I suppose."

The older woman gave a sad smile.

"I shall get out of your hair now, thanks for watching Akeno-chan. If you don't mind, I'll come by with her again tomorrow." Naruto said, giving a small bow.

"You ask me every day, and I'll continue to give the same answer. Watching her is a joy, drop her by anytime." Moriko smiled.

Giving a short bow again, Naruto thanked her for taking such good care of his sister before he turned around and left.

Giving a brief sigh, Naruto heard the door shut behind him as he carried his hyperactive sister around in his embrace.

The child was curious, it was as if she couldn't get her eyes on enough things. She looked over his shoulder and spotted a dog, and shrieked. "Dog! Dog! White dog!"

"Yes it's a dog Akeno-chan, but it's _gray_. Not white." Naruto chuckled as he turned around, and looked at the dog that Akeno had been so happy to see.

"G.. Gray… Gray dog!" She yelled, and the blond nodded at her.

"Yes, yes. Very good." He smiled as the redhead brightened at the praise.

The two turned around and started to walk again when Akeno begged him to let her walk on her own. Naruto sat her down while shaking his head, he had just sat her down when she had grabbed his hand and started to drag him through the village much to the village's amusement.

She would now and then stop to point at stuff, or ask about something. After a little while, they had sat down beside a lake filled with hungry ducks. Much to the little girl's delight, Naruto had predicted that they would stop here and had brought a few pieces of bread with him.

"Here, you take this piece. But remember to feed them small pieces, otherwise, they will choke on the bread. And we don't want the animals to suffer, do we?" Naruto asked as he crouched down beside Akeno and handed her the piece of bread.

"No! Bad for animals!" She squealed and started peel bread apart into small pieces, being very careful not to make them too big.

As the ducks flew to the tossed bread pieces, Akeno giggled as the ducks seemed like they were fighting over the food!

Naruto himself sat down on a bench, and let thoughts overwhelm him as the small girl seemed to enjoy herself.

His mind dragged him back about a few weeks ago when Anko had requested that they joined the Chunin exams. Orochimaru had told some crap about the snake contract, which Anko didn't know he had already _signed_ the day prior.

After the meeting, Naruto had asked Orochimaru why he lied, and the snake Sannin had said. _"We can't risk sending you to a possibly hostile village at your current age. It would be different if the exams had been in our village because then we could watch over you. But there is no guarantee that you'd be safe in a place like, The Stone, or The Cloud. They could assassinate you for who your parents were, and play it off like it was an accident during one of the exams."_

Naruto had agreed with the man's reasoning. He wouldn't risk dying, he couldn't leave his sister alone with a foster family. She was _his_ responsibility.

The blond had sat there for a while when he noticed an arm wave in front of him. "Nii-nii!" The redhead squealed, and Naruto blinked a few times before looking at her.

"Yes?"

"Nii-chan, sleep?" She asked with a raised brow.

"No Akeno-chan. Nii-chan was just thinking." He smiled when he looked at her pleading eyes as she held her arms out.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out another plastic bag with a piece of bread within. He handed the snack for the ducks to Akeno, as he tossed the empty plastic bag into a trashcan.

The blond-haired boy watched his sister for some time. He didn't have a lot of time these days to spend with her, he was always busy training or going on missions. He had to be strong. It was a need, for her to be safe. Which made it a sacrifice he was willing to make.

'_Will you ever know the horror of war? The suffering caused by endless fighting? Ever experience great loss? Are you going to become a Kunoichi, and put your life on the line for the leaf just like me?' _Naruto wondered as he stared at the careless girl.

He hoped against all his thoughts, despite how much he wanted her to take her own path in life. He truly hoped she would pick something else than the Kunoichi way. He wouldn't keep her from going to the academy, he would also support her decision, but as a concerned brother, he couldn't help but feel against the idea of her going into such a dangerous future.

He gave a blink and shook his head. There were still some years before she would have to decide on whether or not she wants to enter the academy, so no point in dwelling on it now.

When Akeno tossed the last piece, Naruto walked up beside her and smiled. "Let's go home, Akeno-chan." He said in a soft tone, and the girl gave that teeth-full grin and grabbed his hands as she let him lead her through the crowded streets.

* * *

When the moon had gone high in the sky, and the sun left hours ago. Naruto found himself sitting on his porch, with a warm cup of tea beside him. If he were to guess, he would say it was around midnight by now. Why he was up, he couldn't tell.

On a normal day, he would have been laying in his bed sleeping around nine o'clock. But, there was something that made him stay up, it was a feeling in his gut telling him that there was something bound to happen.

He leaned against the wall of his house and closed his eyes for around ten minutes. When his eyes opened, he heard the sound of his house gates opening with a loud creaking noise.

Standing up, he realized his tea was cold and threw it out into the grass of his large backyard and started to move around to the front of the house.

He barely made it around the corner when he spotted a familiar appearance, she stood there with a fist raised to knock on the door while gazing into his direction. But something was off.

Something was wrong, it was obvious to him. Her eyes were red and puffy, a big frown was stuck on her face and her general posture was down.

"Izumi?" Naruto asked as the raven-haired girl let her fist fall limb beside her.

"You're still up?" She asked in a low tone afterward.

Naruto gave a quick nod, "Yeah, I had a feeling in my gut saying something was off tonight." He started to wonder if this was it. Had higher beings warned him that something was off about his best friend or something?

The girl gaped a bit in surprise. It made her feel good somehow, there was this pleasant feeling in her body after hearing that. But, it was gone as fast as it came, when a wave of sadness washed over her.

The blond looked at her and started to freak out mentally. This wasn't the usual strong and calm Izumi Uchiha he knew, there was indeed something wrong. Something _really _wrong.

"I can see that something is bothering you, want to talk about it?" Naruto asked as he walked up beside her while lowering his head so he could look at her downcast face.

Her next action surprised him though, she slowly and silently snuck her arms around his torso and placed her head in the crook of his neck.

Now, Naruto wasn't a stranger to hugs. His little sister loved to do it all the time, and almost whenever it was uncalled for. He didn't dislike it, in fact, quite the opposite. So the blond in this situation wrapped his arms around her back and started to hug her back.

When the situation was a bit calmer, Naruto led Izumi around to the spot where he had been sitting before, and prepared two fresh cups of tea and handed her one. She thanked him and the blond gave a quiet nod and sat down beside her.

"Want to tell me what's wrong?" He asked after a few minutes of silence between the two.

Izumi, after a few seconds, nodded and opened her mouth. "My… team was tasked with protecting the daimyo on his trip here. But, things went wrong…"

"Yeah, you told me that last week." Naruto nodded, quite confused about what that had to do with anything.

"Our team was ambushed by a masked man with a sword, and… Everyone except Tenma and I got stuck in a genjutsu…" She said with gritted teeth.

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to," Naruto said placing an around her while keeping his hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head, "In an earlier mission, I had saved him from falling from a high place. After the mission, he said he would make it up to me, he wasn't really happy about it. But then, when we were the last two standing this time, he gave me that look that said, 'This is it' and rushed forward."

Naruto frowned and looked down, he could already tell what happened from that.

"That was when I realized we had a bond, it might have been slim and less durable, but it was there nonetheless… And it was served, in the blink of an eye when that bastard slashed his body open like a yesterday's dinner…" She said with gritted teeth as Naruto noticed that from behind her raven-haired bangs that covered her face and eyes two lone tears fell.

Naruto, to the best of his abilities, tried to comfort her so he reached over and wiped the bang out of the way so he could see her face, but when the removed bang revealed a pair of bright red eyes his own eyes widened.

"Naruto…"

Naruto blinked and shook his head, and gave a nod.

"Please… Don't ever throw your life away for me, don't feel like you needlessly have to sacrifice your life for me too…" She said with clenched eyes and fists, as her teeth were tightly gritted together.

"If it were for you, it wouldn't be needless." Naruto smiled as her eyes sprung open, as she stared at him.

"You…" She mumbled as she stared at those blue eyes of his.

"No worries, I won't die anytime soon. I promised Tou-san that much. So, if you ever get into so much trouble that I'll have to come to get you, then I promise on my life that we'll both get out of there." Naruto chuckled as he looked at his best friend in the eyes.

"You better come out alive too… I'll drag you back from hell myself if you died." She said with narrowed eyes.

Naruto fell a drop of sweat falling from his forehead. Girls could be scary, especially this one beside him.

* * *

**So, we are almost there! I know I probably mentioned earlier that this chapter was going to be the last of this arc, but I realized that some important characters I've had in mind to be, well, important, for this story have yet to be introduced. Plus there are a few things Naruto has yet to be taught that he should be getting started on by now, and no it isn't something he will learn from Orochimaru. Can you guess what he will be taught, and who'll teach it to him?**


	7. The Uchiha's Rebellion

_**Chapter 7.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Izumi (Female Itachi)**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

_**Author's note: I hope you as excited about this as I am because I'm about to introduce two of my favorite characters in this chapter! Also, I've wanted to release at least once a week. More specifically on Wednesdays, but work leaves me quite exhausted these days so I won't promise that the updates are frequent. But, I can **__**almost**__** promise an update within every two weeks. Even if I fail to manage that, I'll promise a chapter once a month, but let's just hope there will be more frequent updates than that, no?**_

* * *

Even as the years passed, around five to be precise, the village always looked the same. The trees were huge, filled with green leaves and animal life. The streets were busy, and the rooftops were often filled with Shinobi traveling from A to B.

Her onyx eyes opened slowly as she looked up to watch a flock of chirping birds flying above her. Her calm eyes followed them as they disappeared into the horizon. The sound of their chirping getting fainter and fainter after they disappeared from view.

Without thinking she trailed her fingers down her grey flak jacket, that was given to her by entering the ANBU. She also received guards for her forearms and a good quality sword. When she had first entered the training ground she was supposed to meet her team in, everyone but Kakashi and a guy named Tenzo had been nice to her.

The rest was very skeptical. But it was to be expected, she might have been a well-known prodigy by now, but she didn't have those great feats in the field yet, not like someone as Kakashi had.

She blinked when she heard a familiar voice yelling beside her, turning her head she started at that impatient expression of one of her friends. "You still kickin' in there Izumi?" He asked and she snorted.

"Any reason for you disturbing my rest, Shisui?" She asked, and stood up from the bench she had been sitting on.

Shisui raised a brow and crossed his arms, "Well yeah, we agreed on getting some training in today." He said, and she remembered the deal they made yesterday.

Much like herself, her close friend had grown a lot. Actually, Shisui had grown a ton. He was taller, bigger, and his name was now feared in the Shinobi world. '_Shisui of the Body Flicker' _She chuckled to herself.

"It seems I've forgotten about that, my apologies." She said, in a monotone voice.

Shisui's brow rose even higher up on his forehead at that, "It's not like you to act this way, so unfocused and forgetting I mean. Is something bothering you?"

Izumi eyed him carefully. "You've noticed it too, haven't you?"

Shisui blinked, "Noticed what? That you've been acting weird these past few weeks?"

Grunting in annoyance she pointed a finger at him, "You know what I'm talking about Shisui."

Sighing he leaned against the trunk of a tree, closing his eyes he let a breath escape his lips. "You're talking about the clan's behavior right?" He asked with a frown.

When he noticed her hodding at him, he let out another sigh. "Yeah, I have…"

"I don't know why, but I feel like it is connected with the clan meeting Tou-san has called us in for tonight," Izumi said, staring at the blue lake running in front of them.

Shisui nodded in agreement. The clan had been acting odd these past few weeks. If he asked how they acted weird he would say that they are sour, and hateful toward the rest of the village. They were isolating themselves, only talking to people within the clan, and also never using the public market and settled for shopping within the compound walls.

If he were to guess, it might have been some leftover grudges from the times when the village believed the Uchiha had something to do with the fox's attack. But the treatment had stopped when it had been announced that they were doing important evacuations instead of fighting the beast head-on.

Yet, after all this time. It seemed like they were still holding grudges. Another huge reason for this was probably that after their compound had been destroyed, Danzo had requested the Uchiha compound to be built in the outskirts of the village, isolated from the other clan's and the civilian population.

But they had made huge progress over the last couple of years! The Uchiha had been more and more a part of the overall civilization again, so why were they acting out now? It made no sense.

And he knew that Izumi and he weren't the only ones confused. It was a specific few Uchiha that was isolating themselves along with their families and the rest of the Uchiha. They would stop people from going to the public market and told them to support the clan by going to their private market place within the walls. And the gate guards were also keeping outsiders out.

Something was really wrong.

Shisui looked over to Izumi, he could predict she was having similar thoughts as him. "Come to think of it, wasn't Naruto-kun supposed to be here as well for training?" Shisui asked.

"He was here earlier, but Kakashi-san came and asked him to follow him. If I were to guess what he wanted, I'd say that Kakashi was going to teach him some more advanced lightning manipulation." Izumi answered.

Naruto had a few days after his and Izumi's emotional talk on his porch started learning his elemental affinity. To his surprise, it was lightning. Kakashi who had been the one helping him out had stated that it was a rare sight, and when Naruto had asked why that was, Kakashi had answered that his father had a main affinity for wind, and his mother had one for water. They both had a minor affinity for lightning, that appears, in the end, managed to worm their way out on top together, to make Naruto's main affinity.

"As if he wasn't talented enough with that crap when he uses it in collaboration with his taijutsu, it gets damn hard to get a hit on him," Shisui complained.

Izumi let out a dry chuckle, "Naruto strives to be the best, not because of his ego as you think, but because he thinks it's necessary."

"Tsk, I still think he has a huge ego," Shisui mumbled and folded his forearms.

* * *

In a clearing at the opposite side of the village, a blond teen spun around as he brought up his right leg for a reverse roundhouse kick. His opponent with grey gravity-defying hair countered with the same move, and on the impact of their legs, they sent huge gusts of air flying all around them.

"You got the be faster than that." The elder of the two mocked, as he flipped behind the blond teen, and tried to deliver a punch to his back.

The blond, not wanting to be outdone, swirled around the incoming fist and went low to sweep his opponent off his feet. But said man, when on the ground rolled back to his feet with ease, and blocked a right hook aimed for his head with the palm of his hand.

"Is that fast enough for you, Kakashi-nii?" The blond chuckled, before backflipping away while tossing a handful of lightning enhanced shuriken.

The blond's opponent, now identified as Kakashi Hatake snorted. "Not quite, Naruto-kun." He said before sliding under the flying projectiles on his knees, just to spin up to his feet right in front of Naruto.

The two simultaneously drew a kunai and clashed together, while trying to push the other back with their strength.

Kakashi looked the blond over as they stood trying to push the other back and had to give a small smile from underneath his mask. He had grown a lot. Not just getting bigger and taller, no, but as a Shinobi.

While he still wore the same ANBU uniform, just a few sizes bigger than a few years ago. Naruto's wardrobe had changed. The blond still wore his headband, around his forehead, but almost everything else has changed.

He now wears a white sleeveless shirt, with black outlining along with a black Uzumaki swirl on the upper back, a pair of black cargo pants with matching sandals and to finish it off two metal forearm guards.

"What do you say that we kick this up a notch, this is getting boring, wouldn't you agree?" Kakashi eye-smiled, and watched the fire in Naruto's eyes intensify as the blond leaped back with great speeds.

"Alright, but you asked for it!" Naruto almost yelled before he pulled his arm back.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as the blond smirked, and thrust his arm forward while mumbling. **"Striking Shadow Snakes!" **The Sharingan user's eyes widened as he was forced to leap back at high speeds to avoid a dozen snakes flying form the blond's arm.

"So that's one of the secret moves you've learned from Orochimaru, I gotta say I'm impressed," Kakashi said loud enough for Naruto while going through hand seals.

"**Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" **Kakashi called as he expelled a huge fireball from his mouth.

Naruto landed on the ground with a quiet thud and went through hand seals of his own. "I won't lose to an overgrown ember! **Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!**" Naruto yelled as he slammed a palm onto the ground.

Upon impact with the dirt below, Naruto's palm sent dozens of lightning streams toward Kakashi's fireball, and when within range he made them leap off the ground. to engulf the large sphere of fire, and squeeze it till it busted into a huge explosion between the two opponents.

Kakashi grunted as his chest rose and fell with his heavy breathing, "Let's stop the spar, for now, don't want to be too exhausted for the real lessons, do we?"

Naruto folded his arms while looking completely fine. "You just stopped the fight because you knew I was going to win." He grumbled.

Kakashi pretended to look hurt, "How can you say something like that, I was just looking out for your safety and wellbeing."

"You'll need Tsunade Senju to look after your wellbeing if you don't get your ass moving within seconds." Naruto threatened with a twitching eyebrow.

"My, my, so hostile today. Oh well, let's get to the lessons." Kakashi sighed and walked closer to the blond.

"So, you told me that you had some more advanced lighting control exercises for me today, what is it?" Naruto asked with curiosity.

Kakashi eye-smiled and pointed toward a sword leaning against a tree. "Well, why don't you go and pick your sword up and bring it here."

Naruto rose a brow but did as he was told. He walked over and grabbed the middle of the black scabbard of the sword with a matching hilt. He pulled the sword behind his back and put it into a spot within his belt at the back of his waist.

"I've meant to ask you, why are you having your sword at the back of your waist, instead of the side or actually on your back like any other sword wielder?" Kakashi asked quite curious.

Naruto just smirked, "Orochimaru-sensei told me that with the fighting style we're developing, it is a perfect spot for it. It won't interfere with my nin-taijutsu or just ninjutsu, and it won't be too far away for me to grab in a tight situation."

"I see." Kakashi eye-smiled and walked behind the blond, grabbed the sword hilt and tossed the exposed chokutō onto the ground leaving the scabbard in its place within Naruto's belt.

"Any reason for you tossing my sword around like its a mere ragdoll?" Naruto growled with annoyance. His sensei had gifted him this sword when he had almost mastered his kenjutsu style a month ago.

"In a fight, the opponent won't care how expensive your sword is. But, he will care if you try to pick it up again." Kakashi said with a calm tone.

Naruto felt a sense of deja vu. "If you are trying to tell me that when I have to pick it up, I need to keep my eyes on the enemy. Then Orochimaru-sensei taught me that as the first thing."

"That's true, but, what if you didn't have to pick it up with your hands?" Kakashi eye-smiled.

Now, this interested the blond.

Kakashi threw a kunai to the ground and chuckled, "Watch and learn." The silver-haired man held out his palm, as a few streams of lightning emitted from it and wrapped themselves around the kunai on the ground. A second later, the kunai levitated from the ground and up into Kakashi's palm.

"Electromagnetism," Kakashi said simply.

"How does it work?" Naruto asked afterward.

Kakashi pocketed his kunai and crossed his forearms. "Think of an electromagnet, it works by you channeling your lightning chakra around to create an electromagnetic field. Then you need to aim at the metal object you want to attract to you, and bam, it flies to your hand."

Naruto sweatdropped, "Sorry for asking, but won't that be a problem if several weapons are laying on the ground?"

"That's the reason this is an advanced exercise, we need to teach you how to separate the desired object from a bunch."

'_Troublesome…'_

* * *

In another part of the village, the Sannin Orochimaru sat with crossed legs as his female pupil went through her warmup.

"Say, Orochimaru-sensei. Why aren't Naruto-kun joining us today?" Anko asked as she started doing her routine workout.

Orochimaru sighed and looked at the Dango fanatic. "As I stated earlier Anko, Naruto-kun is training his elemental affinity with Kakashi-san today, and since I'm not the best-suited teacher for lightning manipulation, Kakashi offered to do it for me."

"I just hope you aren't thinking about putting him off our B-Rank mission today. Now that Naruto is a Jounin, and I'm a Chunin, we should be able to easily take this on and request an A-Rank mission next time!" Anko cheered and broke another training dummy by squeezing it with her snakes.

"As much as I admire your enthusiasm, you need to be ready for such a high-level mission Anko," Orochimaru grunted.

Anko stopped herself a moment before she would break another dummy by punching its head off, "Oh come on! You and Naruto have been on a few A-Rank solo missions together without me before! What's the difference if I tag along?"

"This isn't something I say to be mean or rude Anko, but Naruto and I are both in two complete other leagues than you. While your skills are getting greater and better with each day that passes, I won't risk your life by going into the field without you being ready for it." Orochimaru explained, making Anko grumble.

"I'm not just dead weight to team sensei! Please! I can be of help, and I won't die!" Anko pleaded, and to illustrate her point she tore apart twelve training dummies in five seconds.

Orochimaru groaned with closed eyes, "Fine if you show your worth as a capable Shinobi for an A-Rank mission today on our B-Rank mission, I will perhaps consider putting you on an A-Rank with Naruto-kun and me."

"Yes!" Anko cheered and started mercilessly tearing apart the surrounding area with her _warmup_ routine.

Orochimaru stared at Anko with narrowed eyes, _'I need to put her out of commission soon. I need to bring Naruto-kun with me on an A-Rank mission alone. It's only a matter of time before that old fool figures out about my secret experiments, he has been sniffing around more and more recently. It won't be long before I'll be forced to flee from here, and I refuse to leave without the prize I've been patiently waiting for and training the past few years.'_

"Uhm, Sensei? Why are you glaring at me like that?" Anko asked while swallowing some spit with an audible gulp.

Orochimaru blinked and removed the glare from his face, "Oh, I was merely watching your skills. If you are so set on going on an A-Rank with us, I need to make sure you're as ready as you say you are."

"Oh… Okay! Then watch me!" Anko grinned and started doing some of her high-level fire techniques she has been learning.

The glare returned to Orochimaru's face. _'Perhaps the cursed seal would put her out of commission long enough for me to take Naruto-kun out of the village? I'll submit her to the hospital, and before they figure out what it is, we'll be long gone.' _Orochimaru chuckled as his snake-like tongue licked his lips.

* * *

As night fell upon the village, no one managed to notice the entire Uchiha clan missing from the streets, their houses and the market. But if you watched closely from afar, you'd see a huge amount of people walking up a staircase within a shrine's floor, before it was sealed and hidden with a floor mat.

As everyone except walked back to the village, they failed to see two people missing from the bunch. Izumi and Shisui walked into a deep forest, the older boy walking behind the long-haired ANBU as she walked with her head down.

When she suddenly turned around and stopped, the two stared at each other in the eyes for almost five minutes straight. When a gust of wind blew past them, making their hair sway in the wind the opened their mouths at the same time.

"We need to tell the Hokage!" They spoke simultaneously.

Both of their eyes widened as they stared in shock at each other before Shisui spoke. "If Fugaku-sama is going to go through with this, it would cause a civil war to arise within the village!"

Izumi nodded in agreement, "I know, and with such a war going on inside _this_ village, our sour enemies such as the Stone and the Cloud is likely to take action. This could cause the next great war, Shisui."

"Then it's even worse than I thought…" Shisui said in shock and anger.

Izumi frowned, "We need to tell the Hokage, we can't let so many innocent lives be caught in the middle of the Uchiha's sour ego-filled war."

"I…" Shisui started confusing Izumi.

"I think we should tell Naruto about this, he has great connections within the higherups because of his status as the Fourth's son, the heir to the Uzumaki as well as a Jinchuuriki," Shisui admitted.

"No, absolutely not. This is the Uchiha's will, and the Uchiha's problem to solve. We… *sigh* we can't let him get caught up in this, it wouldn't be fair to him…" Izumi said with a pink hue on her cheeks.

"If you think it will be a burden to him, then you are wrong! He is our friend, and has proved to us over and over that he's willing to stand beside us no matter what!" Shisui argued.

Izumi yelled back this time, "Just because he is willing to go into trouble for us, doesn't mean we need to put it on his shoulders!"

"Naruto is going to be pissed when he finds out that we've been hiding it from him! He wants the be there for us, then why don't we let him?" Shisui said quite annoyed with her.

"Because this isn't his problem!" She tried again.

"That's not how he is going to look at it." Shisui snorted.

Izumi raised a brow and clenched her fist, "What do you mean?"

Shisui crossed his arms and leaned against a tree while clicking his tongue. "Remember our mission to the Grass once? Despite how bad I messed up, Naruto jumped in to save me. Not because he was supposed to, but because he wanted to. He wants to help us! I'm tired of repeating myself, let's just ask for his help!"

"I'm also tired of repeating myself, we won't include him into this! It is a problem caused by us Uchiha, and the problem shall be solved by the Uchiha!" Izumi said her words final as she body flickered out of the area.

'_I know you want to protect him from this because of how you feel about him, but Naruto will be heartbroken if we keep this from him. He'll think we don't trust him enough to let him into our problems so he can help, and I won't allow that.' _Shisui thought, setting his mind on going against his female friend's words.

Looking around him to make sure there were no moles in the area, Shisui used the body flicker himself to get out of the area.

When he landed in front of his desired location, Shisui looked around making sure that Izumi hadn't followed him here, or simply were anywhere nearby. Shisui walked up to the gate in front of him and pushed it open with it making a loud creaking noise.

'_Naruto needs to put some oil into that gate, it sounds like a cat's whorehouse…' _Shisui chuckled to himself before he closed the gate behind him, and body flickered further up into the property.

Naruto himself was standing outside within his private training ground and stood with his palm stretched out toward a bunch of metal objects on the ground. His desired goal was to separate the lone kunai from the bunch of objects and make it return to his hand.

As lightning escaped his hand yet another time, which was obvious had happened quite a few times already judging from the burn marks on his hands and wrists, he let the lightning wrap itself around the kunai and took a deep breath as he started to gently lift it up from the pile of metal objects.

He stared at the kunai that at a slow pace levitated off the ground. But as the kunai were inches away from his hand, he stopped the flow of chakra and spun around with one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Show yourself." He said in a stern tone and watched out into the clearing.

When none other than Shisui landed in front of him, he eased and let go of his sword. "Shisui? Why are you here so late? And why did you suppress your chakra so much? I couldn't recognize it was you."

Shisui sighed with a frown and rubbed his forehead, "Izumi couldn't know I was going here."

This put Naruto on alert, "And why couldn't she now you coming here?" He asked afterward.

"Let's have a drink…" Shisui grumbled and walked in through the sliding doors to the house.

Naruto followed suit and watched as Shisui pulled out a sake bottle from a cabinet, "I'm not the drinking age yet Shisui, what is this all about?"

"Y'know, the whole thing about not being old enough for certain things changed when you got that headband, it is a symbol that not only means you are a soldier, but also an adult." Shisui reasoned and started to pour himself a cup, not a saucer, but a _cup_ filled with sake.

"You know, you aren't exactly old enough to drink yet either," Naruto said and took a seat beside Shisui at the kitchen table.

Shisui took a big sip of the cup and groaned at the burning sensation going down his throat, "Meh, old enough to kill, old enough to drink as they say."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched as Shisui poured him a saucer of sake, "Come on, drink with me…" He said in a somber tone, removing Naruto's annoyed expression. Something was wrong with Shisui, that much was obvious.

Taking a sip from the saucer, he gritted his teeth at the burning sensation the alcohol brought down his throat before he placed it on the table. "What is going on, Shisui?"

Shisui remained silent for minutes, thinking his decision over and over again. Maybe Izumi had been right, maybe this wasn't Naruto's problem to be involved in. But then again, as he had reasoned against the young female prodigy earlier. Naruto would be hurt if he didn't at least have the _chance_ to help.

"The Uchiha clan is planning to overthrow the Hokage and take control of the village, they'll do a coup d'etat to be more precise…" Shisui finally let out.

Naruto's eyes widened at an insane rate, his head flew to stare at Shisui who just looked down at his cup with that somber gaze before he downed the entire cup and filled it up again.

"What do you mean? And what does this have to do with Izumi?" He asked afterward, fearing that Izumi was _for_ this idea.

The older prodigy of the pair looked at his blond friend and smiled, "Izumi and I both said we had to tell the Hokage about this, and I said we should tell you. I knew you would want to get in on this, or at least have the chance to… But she was against it. She didn't feel like we should bother you with this kind of problem…"

"But you guys are my family! I have the right to be there for you!" Naruto said with a hurt expression and Shisui nodded.

"I tried to tell her that, but she kept refusing while saying that it was in your best interest to be oblivious to this going on. But… I disagreed. I want your help and feel like we need it. In case Fugaku decides to go through with this…" Shisui was interrupted.

"It would result in a civil war, and the innocent would die in the crossfire…" Naruto said with narrowed eyes.

Shisui nodded, "Yes, and Izumi calculated further and realized the leaf's sour former enemies would perhaps take this as a chance to invade and finish us off for good."

"Leading to our extinction…"

Shisui looked down at this sake again, before looking back at Naruto. "We need your help, despite what Izumi said earlier. In case, the hardest outfall should happen, we need someone as strong as you prepared to fight with us."

"Are you two the only ones against this?" Naruto asked with horror.

Shisui shook his head, "There is the chance that one or two are on our side in this, but we can't risk asking around. Should Fugaku get wind of us going against his and the clan's wish of rebellion, we would be dealt with and swept under the carpet as a mere _accident._"

Naruto frowned even more, "Who do you believe is on your side?"

"Mikoto-sama, she voiced her concerns against the idea during our clan's meeting tonight. I believe she too is against such bloodshed happening within the walls of our home." Shisui answered.

"Then you could ask-

"No! We can't risk it." Shisui whispered harshly. He wanted to yell but knew that Naruto's little sister was upstairs sleeping.

Silence engulfed the two.

"I'll help you, and fight with you if necessary. Keep me updated, and I'll try to see if I can pull some strings here and there in our favor. If we need it, I'm almost sure I can get Kakashi-nii, and maybe even Orochimaru-sensei on our side in a fight against the rebellion." Naruto offered.

"We can't let any more outsiders in on this, I won't risk their lives just because of the Uchiha's greed. They are still sour! After all this time… They still feel like they are a suppressed strength, that the village fears and hates them because of things that happened earlier. They won't stand for this anymore, they want to show that the Uchiha won't stand for such treatment. They want to show that the Uchiha should rule the village as they did with the Senju when the village was formed back in the day." Shisui ranted with a hand going into his hair.

"I'll still fight with you, and thank you for bringing it to my attention. I'd still like some updates when you learn more." Naruto smiled, and Shisui smiled back in gratitude.

"Thanks, brother."

* * *

**The Uchiha are still up to no good, even in an alternative universe. What will happen? Do you think Naruto's involvement will lead to any change in the rebellion? Will we lose precious comrades again, even in this alternative universe? Will Izumi somehow figure out that Shisui is going behind her back? Let me know your theories in a review or PM! I love to hear from you, it keeps the motivation coming!**

**I've written this chapter on record time, I felt that since there are periods where I don't manage to update as fast as I'd like to, I kind of owed you guys another chapter. It's not my shortest chapter, but not my longest either. I hope it will satisfy you guys a little bit for now, and I hope I can get another chapter out around Wednesday next week!**


	8. Stronger

_**Chapter 8.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Izumi (Female Itachi)**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

_**Author's note: So, it's almost finally time to figure out what the Uchiha clan's destiny will be in this universe. Will Shisui, Izumi, and Naruto manage to put an end to the coup? Or will there forever be a loop of bloodshed within the Uchiha clan, no matter what alternative universe we find ourselves in?**_

_**By the way, a quick message to the guy that still is too scared to turn his PM's on. **__**Yeah, this "punk" will learn to respect his elder, when he decides to behave like one. But if he keeps acting like a spoiled brat, he will be treated as if he was one. If you don't want anything to do with the people on this site, then what are you still here for? Don't ruin our community for your selfish reasons.**_

_**Good day to everyone else out there.**_

* * *

Something was wrong this morning. Kakashi had realized that quite fast today. He had come early, and _one time_ for once because he wanted to see how his little brother was faring with the exercise he had him starting yesterday.

But right now, they were doing their warmup of the day. And it was blatantly obvious that something was wrong with the blond. They had started with taijutsu, and this was the one area Kakashi on a normal day would win. But Naruto's movements and attacks were faster and more furious than what they had been the day before.

He had been crying out with anger every time he had put everything he could into a punch and gritted his teeth with narrowed eyes through every roundhouse kick. And when they had switched to use everything in their spar instead of only taijutsu. Kakashi had been beaten within _minutes_.

Not that Kakashi was weaker than Naruto, no, but he was, of course, holding back compared to Naruto who was letting almost _everything_ he had out on the table. He used his lightning inspired nin-taijutsu from the start, angry crackling lightning following every limb he attacked with.

When using kenjutsu every slash or stab had been intended to kill someone with, and let's not even get started on his ninjutsu. The blond used all high-level attacks he could, and when Kakashi had put his hand up for stopping the spar the blond was standing panting hard. Not because he was tried, no, but because he was _angry_.

"Why'd you stop?! I'm not done yet!" Naruto yelled and flew over to punch Kakashi in the face, but the ANBU captain had lifted his headband to counter Naruto's attack by flinging him into a nearby tree.

"Yes, yes you are. What's wrong with you today, you are so angry and tense and there is absolutely zero coordination or planning for any attack you make! This isn't like you." Kakashi said in a soft tone.

"Shut up and fight!" Naruto growled but was punched in the gut without realizing it, and soon fell onto his knees while coughing.

"I won't stand for such disrespect, not even from you," Kakashi said with narrowed eyes, making Naruto look away in shame.

"I apologize…" He grunted after a while, and let his hostile body language fall.

"Care to tell me what's going on?" Kakashi asked afterward, making Naruto go deep in thought. He had promised not to say anything about the coup, but what other reason could he use for acting this way?

Naruto grunted as he got back onto his feet, and leaned against the tree he had been thrown into earlier. "Remember that group of Stone Shinobi we found crossing the border last month?" Naruto asked and Kakashi nodded, motioning for Naruto to continue.

"It just makes me so furious! I'm almost certain that they are getting up here, just to make an attempt on either mine or my sister's life! And it's not that I don't have faith in Tou-san and Kaa-san barrier around our property, but the Stone is known for their Demolition Corps! I don't know if the barrier can take several ongoing bombs for hours!" Naruto lied smoothly.

Kakashi sighed and let his headband fall back into place to cover his Sharingan eye. "Is that what you're worried about? Come on Naruto, you should know that the Village's guard units are patrolling around the compounds at least once every tenth minute, so they wouldn't even have a chance to bomb your house for hours. And even if they did manage to set a bomb off, don't you think the village would notice an explosion at the Fourth Hokage's former house?"

Naruto faked an embarrassed expression, "I guess that's right… I just want to be strong enough if the time ever comes, where I got to fight them myself."

"That's understandable, I'd feel the same way. Why did you let it get to you today? You seemed unaffected the other days." Kakashi wondered.

Naruto chuckled with a sad grin. "I dreamt of it last night, them breaking into our home and…"

"You don't have to say anymore, I can feel where you're going with this…" Kakashi said while patting his shoulder.

Naruto nodded in gratitude, even though the dream was fake, he still felt terrible talking about such an outcome for his family. "Want to keep going then? I'll try to remain calm from now on, and I'll put coordination into my attacks again."

"As long as you don't try to make me into sliced pork chop with that sword of yours again, I'm game!" Kakashi said getting into a taijutsu stance while lifting his headband up again.

"No promises!" Naruto smirked and flew forward with one hand on the hilt of his sword.

Kakashi sighed and reached up to grab the katana given to him upon entering the ANBU and grinned, "Then I shall make no promises either, let's go!" He called and clashed his blade against Naruto's.

After a few minutes of swords clashing together, Kakashi managed to sweep Naruto's blade out of his hands. "It seems I win," Kakashi said swinging his sword down in front of Naruto to prove his point, but the blond smirked.

Naruto slammed his forearm guard into Kakashi's sword, sending it flying back before he kicked Kakashi in the side of the knee, bringing the ANBU captain down kneeling. "Not today!" He called and spun around to place a foot square in Kakashi's chest, sending him rolling backward.

Kakashi rolled back to his feet and chuckled, "I forgot how fast and flexible Orochimaru's training has made you, I guess I'll have to be prepared for that as well from now on."

"You're right about that," Naruto smirked and reached down to grab his sword.

Kakashi too spun around and grabbed his blade, and the two ran at each other once again. When Kakashi made a slicing motion toward Naruto, the blond flipped into the air and over Kakashi while doing a downward slash.

The silver-haired man countered by flicking a kunai into his hand and blocked the slash. When the blond landed behind him, he threw the kunai his way only to watch it get blocked by one of the blond's forearm guards.

'_Should've seen that coming…' _Kakashi sweatdropped and got ready to fight the blond close-up.

* * *

An hour later Naruto was waltzing through the village while grabbing his shoulder. The spar had gotten out of hand fast, and Naruto and Kakashi tied by them each delivering and bone-crushing right hook to each other's cheek.

If Kakashi had gone all out, Naruto would have lost a lot sooner. It was because Kakashi had a lot more experience, and Naruto knew that if he had used his strongest techniques a simple spar could have resulted in death, so of course, it was forbidden. So, in short, had they both gone all out showing their greatest strengths, the spar could have ended with either one or two deaths.

But he felt satisfied nonetheless. He had to get a lot stronger. If the coup the Uchiha were planning either ended up as a civil war and then a new great war, or simply their forced execution. Naruto knew he had to get stronger, at least double as strong as he was now.

But the reason his shoulder was sore wasn't because of Kakashi and his spar. No, it was because Anko was set on beating his ass for dropping out on a mission yesterday. He just heard from Orochimaru, right after, that taking a dip in the hot springs would help the soreness, and hence the reason he was right in front of the place now.

When he was about to enter the open door, the annoying sound of a very. _Very_. very familiar giggling hit his ears. Grabbing the door, he shut it instead and walked around the building at a slow pace. When he noticed a big, white-haired man sitting on top of a toad his eyebrow twitched.

When the toad turning around to stare at him, Naruto put a finger to his mouth and whispered "Shhh…" The toad sweatdropped but gave a small nod nonetheless.

Naruto crouched down and went through a couple of hand seals, **"Lightning Release: Stinging Bee." **He whispered and out of his fingertip, a small bee buzzed into existence as it flew over to the man and landed on his shoulder.

The man looked to his shoulder and raised a brow and said, "A blue bee, what is this, Snow Country?- GYAAAAH!" He suddenly screamed as the bee exploded sending an electric current through his body as he rolled backward and down from the toad's back before he landed on the ground with a loud thud.

When the sound of women realizing they were getting peeped on came in the form of multiple screams, the white-haired man flew up and looked into the hole and looked on in horror as they ran out to the changing rooms.

"Who in the five elemental nations dares to interrupt, The Great Jiraiya-sama! From his research!" The man yelled as he flew around, only to stop as he stared at the very unamused face of his teenage godson.

"What are you doing, _Ero-Sennin_?" Naruto asked, his eyebrow twitching as his eyes were narrowed immensely at the white-haired Sannin.

Jiraiya raised a brow at him, "What does it look like, I'm researching important stuff."

"You mean that you are researching naked butts," Naruto said with his eyebrow still twitching.

Jiraiya huffed and crossed his large arms, "You'll understand the wonders of the woman body one day, brat. Or… Maybe the reason you are so mad at me for researching is that you are afraid your girlfriend might be in there one day!" Jiraiya giggled.

"Girlfriend?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.

Jiraiya let out a loud laugh, "Oh come now! Don't tell me you aren't with that girl yet, Izumi was it?"

"Izumi is my best friend you perv," Naruto says with a pink hue getting onto his cheeks.

Jiraiya swings and arm around Naruto's shoulder and winks, "Come on now, the way you always talk about her? I'm surprised if she hasn't figured you out yet."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto asks with an annoyed glare.

Jiraiya motions for him to sit, as they walk over to a bench in front of the lake supplying the hot springs. "Why are you denying yourself this? Is it because of the Uchiha's rebellion?" Jiraiya said, but the last part was in a whisper.

Naruto's eyes widened, "How did you know, that I…"

"Come on! You are Shisui and Izumi's best friend, and the Hokage just told me that Izumi was there earlier to see him and then she told him about the coup. And then later, he informed me when I returned. I'd be surprised if you didn't know." Jiraiya admitted.

Naruto sighed and looked away, "Shisui told me, Izumi wanted to keep me out of it. Shisui said it was because she meant it wasn't my problem."

"So, she wants to protect you. Yet another reason for why you should tell her how you feel inners in." Jiraiya informed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"She is my best friend, whatever you think is going on, _isn't_," Naruto said with narrowed eyes.

Jiraiya gritted his teeth through annoyance. "It feels like we are playing a game of 'Whack a Mole' here! Stop denying yourself this! If this entire coup thing is going to get messy, who is to say she will make it out alive?!"

Naruto's eyes widened in horror at that. He hadn't thought so long yet.

"You'll regret not telling her for the rest of your life," Jiraiya stated as a matter of fact.

Naruto frowned and looked at his feet, "I… I can't do that to her right now, it isn't the right time! With the whole coup thing going on, and her having to take a stance with us instead of her clan… I just can't do that to her, ya get me?"

"No. No, I don't. What if your support, as a _boyfriend _instead of a friend is the thing she needs right now? Maybe you standing with her like that, is a thing that truly ties her loyalty to the leaf in the end?" Jiraiya asks with a frown.

Naruto gritted his teeth, "Don't speak about her loyalty like that, she is even more loyal than me!"

"Look at you, defending her honor already." Jiraiya grinned with a smirk, much to Naruto's embarrassment.

The two sat in silence afterward. At least Naruto had somewhat admitted that he liked the girl right now, but why was he so damn scared of it? What could the reason be? There had to be something… _'Don't tell me…'_

"You're afraid that you can't protect her, aren't you?" Jiraiya asked with a surprised gaze.

Naruto's eyes widened in a second, how did he?

"I was unable to protect my parents, I feel that I can't protect my sister well enough either," Naruto admits after a minute of sitting with his eyes glued to the ground.

Jiraiya shakes his head in amusement, "Naruto, your sister adores you! You protect her more than you should have to, you are as overprotective as it gets. And don't worry about Izumi, she's a big girl alright! She can handle herself."

"But you just said that the coup could get messy, and she might die!" Naruto argued but was answered with a slap to the back of his head.

Jiraiya glared at him, "Don't twist my words you brat."

Naruto glared back at the old pervert but kept silent for now.

"On a serious note though, what do you plan on doing about the coup?" Jiraiya asked, his tone changing from teasing to being serious.

Naruto looked at the older man before answering, "As I told Shisui, I'm willing to fight beside him and Izumi. Even if it has to be in the name of an execution…"

"You know they'll recognize your chakra and presence in the area right?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto nodded his head, he had thought about this at least. But it didn't change a thing for him, he was still going to be there for them. They were his family, and he had given them his word, or well, given Shisui his word that he'd fight with them.

"But fear not! I think I'll be able to help if it does come to _that_." Jiraiya smirked a sour smirk.

"What do you mean?"

Jiraiya took out a pen and a piece of paper and waved them around, "I'll draw you some seals, or actually, I'll teach you how to draw them yourself. This way you are prepared to be there, without anyone ever finding out, and you'll start to train your Uzumaki heritage."

Gaping at the man's offer, Naruto soon smiled in gratitude. "I'd like that."

"Can't have my godson become a rogue ninja, can I?"

Naruto chuckled darkly, "But listen closely, Ero-Sennin. If you ever peak on Izumi, I won't care whether it was a mistake or not. I will find you, and I'll shove your balls down your throat."

Jiraiya let out an audible gulp, as he sweatdropped as the evil glare coming from his godson's eyes.

* * *

With Jiraiya home again for now, in case of a civil war breaking out. Naruto's training was increased beyond anything he could have imagined. Jiraiya was training the shit out of him. And with Kakashi, not wanting to be left out, he had learned a ton of new lightning moves the past week.

Even one he wasn't supposed to learn.

With the Shadow Clone trick to help him, he was absorbing jutsu and knowledge like a sponge, and one time when he and Shisui had spared this last week, the young Uchiha had given him much credit for getting so strong, so fast.

At the moment it was the afternoon in the leaf, Naruto was found sitting _upside-down_ on his couch, he was holding an out folded scroll within his hands as he held a brush between his lips.

Akeno wasn't so happy about having to leave her brother in the living room alone today. It didn't sit quite well with her, so to give him some company she ran down the stairs and flung the door open to quite the sight.

The redhead's brow raised as she stared at her brother that was clad in a casual outfit inside the living room and were writing on a scroll while sitting _upside-down_ in the damn couch.

"Nii-chan, what are you doing?" She asked with curiosity and Naruto who had been too caught up with his little project to notice someone's arrival gave out a startled flinch and rolled onto the floor dropping the scroll.

"Akeno, what are you doing in here?" He groaned rubbing his sore head as he picked up his scroll again while looking at the energetic seven-year-old.

"I came here to see what you were doing…" She sighed and looked at the scroll.

"You were writing? Oh no… Nii-chan! If you are writing for that adult stuff then you know Oji-chan is going to skin you alive." Akeno said with wide eyes.

"What? No! I am working on a new seal." Naruto defended himself with an outraged expression, to even think she would suggest he was doing something like that was beyond him.

"Oh! Tell me more! It isn't the oh so secret seal you and Baka-Sennin are working on, so you can tell me! Please!" She pleaded with much energy.

"Alright, calm down and sit here." Naruto sighed and padded the floor next to him and then he did a quick transformation jutsu on the scroll and made it look like an entirely new seal.

Akeno did as she was told and fell on her butt beside Naruto, who took his scroll up so she could see and started to explain.

"This is two in one seal, this portion on the left is a storage seal while the seal here on the right within the overall sealing formula is an attachment seal," Naruto explained in a short version.

"That's easy to do Nii-chan, Baka-Sennin already taught me so I can already make those!" Akeno said with pride.

"I know, I can also make them as you can see, but the overall idea is to put them together into one seal so that the seals will compliment each other," Naruto explained in a bit more detail.

"Sounds complicated! What do you want them to do when they are fully put together?!" Akeno asked with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

Naruto chuckled, "I want to place the seals on my gear's forearm guards, and then when I activate the overall sealing formula the storage seal will first release an item, and then the attachment seal will kick in right after with an almost zero second delay and stick the desired item onto my forearm guard."

"Ooooh! That's so awesome! Which items will you store in there? A big sword? Or a chain maybe?!" Akeno grinned.

"Could you be a little less energetic in the afternoon Akeno-chan?" Naruto sweatdropped as Akeno flinched while scratching her head in embarrassment.

"I plan to maybe seal a grappling hook in one seal and then a shield into the other. After my spar with Orochimaru-sensei yesterday, I came to realize that there will be attacks I can't just block with my armguards, or run away from. So to counter the stuff that I can't avoid, these seals are going to help me fight the situations better and come out victorious. By giving me my desired tools or weapons, that is." Naruto said.

Akeno nodded trying her best to stay calm, but her brother was so smart and innovative so it was quite hard.

"I will also need to improve the seal after the basic version is complete, maybe improve it in the storage area so I can store more than one item within my armguards." Naruto mused.

"How is this going to work with the one you and Baka-Sennin are working on?" Akeno asked with a glint in her eyes.

"Nice try brat, I am not going to tell you about 'Baka-Sennin' and I's seal," Naruto said ruffling her hair as he stood up.

"It was worth a try…" Akeno then sighed.

Naruto chuckled and stopped ruffling her hair and smiled, "Why don't you go out and grab your Shuriken, and I'll train you for a little bit?"

This seemed to get her interest, and the child ran outside almost falling on the porch.

Naruto let out a relieved breath as he released the transformation jutsu, only to reveal the scroll in his hand having notes on a barrier seal.

Naruto sighed, and started to mentally write down the lies he had told Akeno. The seals were made up, _but_, they were an okay idea to work on some time.

'_That was a close one, not even Akeno can know what I'm planning. God, I hate lying. Especially to those close to me…' _Naruto thought to himself, as an image of Kakashi and Akeno appeared in his head while rolling the scroll up.

"Nii-chaaaan! Are you coming or what?!" Akeno yelled and Naruto groaned.

"I'll be right there!" He called back and muttered to himself with a smile.

"Impatient brat."

One of the few joys he had these days were watching his sister grow up. She was getting big, and fast at that. She was already quite tall, it must have been in their genes because Naruto could remember himself also being quite tall at that age compared to people his age.

Her hair had grown, and she had asked him to make a ponytail for her this morning, much to his amusement. She hugged him and run off to the academy right after. Yeah, she had started at the academy. As he had planned on earlier, he would support her in her decision if she wanted to be a kunoichi, but he still wasn't happy with her risking her life in the future.

Was this how parents felt about their kids when they started training to become a shinobi or a kunoichi? It had to be.

When he had packed his stuff up, he made a clone and handed it to him. The clone soon vanished into his father's former study, that he used himself now, and packed the stuff away.

Sighing he turned around and went outside, his sister as impatient as she was, was already throwing with her Shuriken. Of course, she failed to hit most of the time, but there were some quite impressive throws among the horrifying ones.

He started thinking back as he watched her. These days have been hectic, and he had found himself avoiding his best friend these days. She had hurt him a bit. He had always said that if there was anything, no matter how big or small it was, he wanted to know so he could be there for her.

And even after that, she felt like not telling him something this important. Didn't she trust him yet? He'd trust her with his life, whether he had to, or not. It felt like a punch to the stomach, and he just couldn't understand why.

He was about to walk down to Akeno and give her some pointers when a crow landed on his shoulder. _'Shisui's I assume... ' _Naruto sighed and took a piece of paper tied to the bird's leg before it flew away again.

Unfolding the neatly folded piece of paper, Naruto started to read Shisui's handwriting.

_It seems like decisions will be made at tomorrow's meeting. Meet me at our usual meeting place at the Naka River tomorrow at sundown. Be on time, and be on alert, Danzo is acting out this evening._

Summoning a bit of lightning chakra to his fingertips, just enough for the piece of paper to get on fire, Naruto's mind wandered loose. _Danzo…_ That man, he hated him with all of his being already.

On his tenth birthday, the man had shown up on his property and claimed that his gift for him was training. First of all, he didn't know this man at all, so he refused politely by saying that he already had more teachers than he should.

Then he had gotten angry with him. Saying that this was a child's defiance. Still trying to be polite, Naruto kept refusing the offer until Danzo had grabbed him by the color. He had said, _"The leaf requires a new weapon, and it __**needs**__ to be you!"_ Seconds later, Hiruzen's personal ANBU had shown with the Third Hokage himself right behind them.

When Naruto had been asked what was going on, he had said _exactly_ what Danzo had been doing, and well, Hiruzen's reaction had been banishing Danzo from ever talking or going anywhere near the boy again. If he did on purpose, there would be a prison cell waiting for him. To say Danzo was furious after was an understatement, the man had left with smoke coming out of his ears and his eyes red as if a bull had seen something red.

Shaking his head free of these thoughts, Naruto made a discreet Shadow Clone and body flickered into his study. He didn't have a lot of time, and in case he had to fight tomorrow he needed the last _three_ seals to be done.

* * *

**Another chapter out, I hope I'm not rushing too much through all of this, I feel like I am? But at the same time, I have no idea what else could have been written to make this feeling go away. Anyway, I hope you still liked it, and I especially hope you like Jiraiya's entry to the story. **

**Question: With Naruto in on the coup, do you think Shisui will die? Looking forward to your theories.**

**Anyhow, see ya next week hopefully!**


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